Download The Patient`s Guide to Hair Restoration

The Patient’s Guide to
Hair Restoration
William R. Rassman, M.D.
Robert M. Bernstein, M.D.
Contributions by
Robert McClellan, M.D., Roy Jones, M.D.,
Marc Pomerantz, M.D., and Richard C. Shiell, M.D.
www.newhair.com
1-800-NEW-HAIR
Copyright © 2005 New Hair Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
New Hair Institute, Inc., 9911 West Pico Boulevard, Suite 301, Los Angeles, CA 90035
Chapter 1
A Brief History of Hair
Throughout history, hair has been an important symbol. The significance
of hair as an indicator of gender, and social, religious and professional status has
been as great as that of clothing, jewelry, tattoos, weapons, and even crowns.
The importance of hair goes back at least as far as the Neolithic Age. Several
years ago, a man’s body was found frozen in a glacier near the Austrian-Italian
border. Because he looked like modern man, it was first thought that he had died
only a few years before. Upon examination of his clothing and weapons,
archaeologists concluded that he had been frozen for more than 5,000 years. It is
likely that this preserved Neolithic man wore his hair in the fashionable cut and
style of that age. His hair was neatly cut to a length of 3.5 inches, and his beard
was trimmed.
In Ancient Egypt, sons of the Pharaoh wore their hair tied in a distinctive
bun on the right side of the head just behind the ear. The Pharaoh himself was
never seen without a wig. Even today, male and female English judges wear
obviously artificial horsehair wigs when they preside in court.
The oldest known medical text is an Egyptian papyrus scroll. Its remedies
include an ointment for restoring lost hair, consisting of equal parts crocodile fat
and hippopotamus dung. The physician who wrote the text recommended that
one rub this concoction into the bald scalp.
The ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, recognized a connection
between the sexual organs and baldness. He may have been the first to record
the observation that eunuchs (men castrated before puberty) did not become
bald. Hippocrates' own baldness stimulated his interest in the subject of hair loss.
His prescription for preventing hair loss was the application of a mixture of cumin,
pigeon droppings, horseradish, and nettles to the scalp. In fact, the area of
permanent hair that encircles the back and sides of the head is sometimes
referred to as the Hippocratic wreath.
Dating back to Biblical times, the tale of Samson is one of the familiar
examples of man's concern over hair loss. Samson had the strength to destroy
the Philistines as long as his hair remained long and uncut. As soon as Delilah
cut his hair, he lost all of his strength.
Early Christian monks and priests shaved the hair on the crown of the head to
create a tonsure. This highly visible mark proclaimed their vow of chastity to the
world. It symbolized their lack of concern with worldly vanities and riches; it also
expressed their personal dedication to God. During the Middle Ages, Christian
society saw an emphasis of concern with the spiritual side of life and a studied
neglect of physical functions. The tonsure became so extreme that, upon taking
orders, a monk shaved his head almost completely bare, so that only a narrow
fringe of hair remained encircling his head.
During the time of King Louis XIV of France, elaborate wigs became
fashionable for the aristocracy. Some of these wigs incorporated paraphernalia
such as model ships and cages with live birds. The more complex constructions
often weighed 15-20 pounds. Known for luxuriant hair in his youth, King Louis
began this practice and may have adopted the fashion to disguise his balding as
he grew older. Elaborate wigs continued to be a class status and fashion symbol
until the middle of the eighteenth century.
Hair has also been an important symbol of rank and religion in Asia.
Buddhist monks shaved their heads completely. Japanese Samurai warriors
shaved the front and top of the head and drew the long back and side hair into a
complex topknot. Even modern day Sumo wrestlers wear their hair in a
distinctive knot at the back although they do not shave the front and top. The
ubiquitous queue or pigtail of Chinese men, a long single braid worn down the
back, was a symbol of their bondage to a lord, landowner, or to the Emperor.
Most urban Chinese men cut off their queues after the revolution in 1920, but the
custom persisted in many rural areas. During the revolution, any man found
wearing a queue was publicly humiliated; his hair was cut off and burned.
Today, hair continues to be an important part of self-expression, and can
function as a symbol of attitude, culture, and religion. Hair, or the lack of it, is of
great significance to rock singers, punks, Rastafarians, Hare Krishnas, Orthodox
Jews, Sikhs, Sufis, Buddhists and Hindus. Hair is important to our self-image
and self-identity, and for both men and women, it is a universal symbol of youth.
Chapter 2
Hair and Its Functions
The condition of one’s hair is an important indicator of age and the body’s
general state of health. Other similar indicators, such as skin condition, muscular
coordination, brightness of the eye and alertness of manner, are often more
subtle or may be masked by clothing. Hair, however, is usually in plain sight.
There are associations and social reactions that may result if one’s hair is gray or
a man is bald. It has been thought that such reactions are were based on primal
judgments, such as whether the person is fit for warfare, reproduction, and or
active labor. A full, glossy head of hair is a clear signal that one is youthful,
vigorous, and therefore, desirable.
Hair is composed of a complex protein called keratin. Of the human body’s
three basic compounds: , proteins, fats, and carbohydrates; the synthesis of
protein requires the greatest investment of energy. When a person becomes ill or
malnourished, his/her hair stops growing. When illness or malnutrition is severe
or prolonged, the hair may fall out (the medical term for this is telogen effluvium).
The resumption of hair growth is a sign that recovery has begun. Science
continues to explore why hair grows or fails to grow, and why it falls out in some
people, but not in others.
Mammals share several characteristics. Most mammals bear live offspring (as
opposed to laying eggs) and nurture their young with milk made in special glands
on the female’s body. Mammals are warm-blooded, that is, they maintain
constant body temperature independent of the outside temperature. Hair is a
feature shared by all mammals; and like many mammals, man’s skin is covered
with hair. Human skin has more hair follicles per unit of surface area than the
skin of most other primates; which this is surprising, since as most primates
appear to be so much hairier than humans. This impression is caused by the
greater length and coarseness of the individual hair shafts in primates such as
monkeys and apes. In contrast, the majority of human body hair consists of a
very fine, almost invisible, type of hair called vellus hair.
Human hair is classified into two main types: fine, vellus hair; and the
coarser, more visible terminal hair. Except for the palms of the hands and the
soles of the feet, most of the human body’s areas of seemingly bare skin are
actually covered with very fine vellus hairs that may be almost invisible except to
under very close or microscopic inspection. There are several distinct subtypes
of terminal hair. For example, eyelash hairs, called cilia, are different from head
and body hair. Pubic (groin) and axillary (armpit) hairs are also different from
terminal hairs on the head and are associated with different types of glands in the
skin. Even scalp hairs have several different sub-groupings. For example, there
is a fringe of very fine hair surrounding the circumference of the head. This hair
gives a transitional gradation of thickness from the bare skin appearance of the
vellus hair to the dense, thick hair of the crown. Similarly, the hair above the ears
or at the base of the neck is not as coarse as that of the crown.
The reasons we have hair and the functions of its growth patterns are not
completely understood. Our pre-historic ancestors were much hairier than we are
today; the reason for the decreased hairiness of modern man is unknown,
although it is reasonable to assume that it parallel the use of clothing for warmth
and protection. Hair serves as insulation from the cold; however, this does not
explain why different human groups have distinct patterns of hair growth. Most
people of Asian descent have very sparse body and facial hair, but some of
these peoples such as the Inuit, Tibetans and Mongols people, inhabit some of
the coldest regions on earth. Hair has the additional function of extending the
sensory capability of the skin beyond its surface. Although human hair lacks the
wealth of sensory nerve fibers found at the root of whiskers of some animals,
each hair has a nerve fiber going to the bulb of the hair follicle. Mechanical
displacement of each hair causes a sensation, an awareness of movement. For
example, when an ant or fly walks on one’s arm, one feels the displacement of
hairs caused by the insect.
Hair plays a role in the defense mechanisms of most fur-bearing animals
as well. When an animal confronts a potential enemy, its fur bristles, standing on
end to make the animal appear to be larger and more threatening. In dogs, this
response is most visible in the neck area where the neck hairs, called hackles,
rise. In cats, the most visible response may be in the tail. An extreme example of
the use of hair for self-defense occurs in porcupines: their quills, which are
modified hairs, stand out from the body when the animal feels threatened.
Porcupines have converted a reflex, that in most animals is purely defensive, into
a formidable weapon. In modern man, with relatively sparse body hair, only
vestigial traces of these reactions remain. A separate, tiny muscle connects the
lower portion of each hair shaft with the underside of the skin. When you are
frightened, cold or angry, these small muscles, called erector pili muscles,
contract, causing your hair to stand on end.
Each hair shaft also contains a small gland called the sebaceous gland,
located next to the hair shaft. Sebaceous glands make a yellow, fatty substance
called sebum that lubricates the hair. Each time the erector pili muscle contracts,
the gland is squeezed, and a small amount of lubricant is applied to the surface
of the hair. Hair, along with skin pigmentation, is the major natural protection that
we have against the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays. Scalp hair also plays an
important role in preventing mechanical trauma to the skull. Hair acts as a "dry
lubricant" in areas that rub, such as under the arms and in the groin, and serves
to disperse pheromones (body secretions that are involved in sexual attraction).
Hair is integral to our body image and can have a profound influence on
our self-esteem and self-confidence. There is no other part of the human
anatomy that can be changed or manipulated so easily. Hair can be groomed,
styled, waved, straightened, dyed, braided, or cut, and, unlike tattoos or body
piercing, changes made to our hair can be completely reversed. Hair serves as a
means of self-expression, and the loss of this form of self-expression in people
who are going bald may account, at least in part, for the despair that they may
experience. For all of its simple appearance, hair is a complex and valuable
organ. Although we usually think of hair only in terms of the visible portion of the
hair shafts, each hair, along with its muscle and sebaceous gland, must be
working properly to maintain a healthy head of hair.
Anatomy & Physiology of Hair
Anatomically, hair is a part of the skin. As hair is physically distinct
however, it is among the structures known as skin appendages. Other skin
appendages include sweat glands, fingernails and toenails. Skin is composed of
three main layers. The outer layer of skin is the epidermis. This layer is less than
a millimeter in thickness and is composed of dead cells that are in a constant
state of sloughing and replacement. As dead cells are lost, new ones from the
growing layer below replace them. Beneath the epidermis is the dermis, a tough
layer of connective tissue that is about 2 to 3 mm thick on the scalp. This layer
gives the skin its strength, and contains both sebaceous glands and sweat
glands. Beneath the dermis is a layer of subcutaneous fat and connective tissue.
The larger sensory nerve branches and the blood vessels that nourish the
skin run deep into this layer. In the scalp, the lower portions of the hair follicles
(the bulbs) are found in the upper part of this fatty layer. The hair follicle
measures about 3-4 mm in length and produces one to four hair shafts, each
about 0.1 mm in width. It is a complex structure comprised of three main layers.
The outer layer, called the outer root sheath or trichelemma, surrounds the
follicle in the dermis and then blends into the epidermis on the surface of the
skin, forming the structure commonly referred to as the pore (from which the hair
emerges).
The middle layer, the inner root sheath, is composed of three parts
(Huxley layer, Henly layer, and cuticle), with the cuticle being the innermost
portion that touches the hair shaft. Interestingly, the cuticle is formed by a layer of
overlapping cells that interlock with the cuticle of the hair shafts shaft (matrix
cells). This mechanism holds the hair shaft securely in place, but also allows it to
grow in length.
The hair shaft itself is also composed of three layers. The cuticle, the outer layer
just described, forms the surface of the hair and is what we see as the hair shaft
emerges from the follicle. The middle layer, the cortex comprises the bulk of the
hair shaft and is what gives hair its strength. It is composed of an organic protein
called keratin, the same material that comprises rhinoceros horn and deer
antlers. The center, or core, of the hair shaft, is the medulla, and is only present
in terminal hair follicles. The lower portion of each hair follicle widens into a
region called the bulb, which contains the matrix cells. The size of the bulb and
the number of matrix cells will determine the width of the fully-grown hair.
Below each follicle is a small, collection of specialized cells, called the
dermal papillae. The dermal papillae fit into a hollow in the widened base of the
hair shaft. For many years, scientists thought that hair growth originated from the
dermal papillae. Recent evidence has shown that the growth center extends from
the dermal papillae all the way up to the region of the follicle where the
sebaceous glands are attached. It is now believed that the primary function of
the dermal papillae is to regulate follicular growth and differentiation. If the
dermal papillae are removed (this sometimes happens during a hair transplant),
the hair follicle is able to regenerate a new one, although the growth of the new
hair will be delayed.
The normal human scalp contains about 100,000-150,000 follicles that
produce thick terminal hair. For comparison, the human body has approximately
5 million follicles that produce the fine, vellus hair. At any given time, about 90%
of terminal hairs on one’s head are actively growing. This phase, called anagen,
can last from 2-7 years, though the average is about three. Scalp hair grows at a
rate of about 0.44 mm/day (or 1/2 inch per month). The other remaining 10% of
scalp hairs are in a resting state called telogen that, in a normal scalp, lasts
about three months. When a hair enters its resting phase, growth stops, the bulb
detaches from the papilla, and the shaft is either pulled out (as when combing
one’s hair) or pushed out when the new shaft starts to grow. When a hair is
pulled out, or falls out on its own, a small, white swelling is found at the bottom of
the hair shaft. Most people assume that this is the growth center of the hair, but it
is just the clubbed, detached lower end of the hair shaft. The dermal papillae
remain in the scalp.
Humans lose about 100 hairs per day; everyone has a few hairs stuck to
the comb each time they comb their hair. The presence of a large number of
hairs on the comb, in the sink, or in the tub can be the first sign of excessive hair
loss. One of the most interesting things about hair is that, in contrast to the
commonly held notion that it grows as individual strands, it actually emerges from
the scalp in groups of one to four (and sometimes even five or six). The reason
for this is that hair follicles are not solitary structures, but are arranged in the skin
in naturally occurring groups called follicular units. Although skin pathologists
recognized this fact in the early 1980's, its profound importance in hair
transplantation surgery was not appreciated until the mid-1990’s. The use of
naturally occurring, individual follicular units has revolutionized modern hair
transplantation.
Chapter 3
The Causes of Hair Loss
Facts
All humans are born with a finite number of hair follicles. The diameters of
the individual hairs in our follicles increase as we grow from infancy to adulthood.
However, no matter what we eat, what our lifestyles may be, or what kinds of
vitamins we take, we never grow any more hair follicles.
At puberty, men have a very low hairline that usually recedes to its mature
position by the age of 20 to 22 and then stabilizes. In men with a genetic
tendency to go bald, this hairline will continue to recede. Severe illness,
malnutrition, or vitamin deficiency can speed or exacerbate the natural hair loss
process, but many healthy men lose more hair than others do. This natural
process is called androgenetic alopecia or common baldness (also known as
male pattern baldness). It is only in recent years, with our greater knowledge of
genetics and the chemistry of sex hormones, that we have begun to understand
the causes. It is important to note that male pattern baldness also occurs in
women, but in a slightly different form.
Androgenetic alopecia or male pattern baldness is a process that changes
the follicles that produce terminal hairs. Follicles first produce thinner, shorter
hairs with weaker shafts. Eventually, these follicles produce only fine, almost
invisible, vellus hairs, and they may die out altogether. Androgenetic alopecia
requires three conditions for its occurrence: the genes for hair loss, male
hormones in adequate quantities, and time.
Genes
A gene is a single bit of chemically encoded hereditary instruction that is
located on a chromosome and represents a tiny segment of DNA. Chromosomes
occur in pairs (humans have 23 pairs), and every individual inherits one set of
chromosomes from each parent. The genetics of androgenetic alopecia is
complicated and hair loss is thought to involve more than one gene. When
several genes govern a trait, it is called polygenic. Genes that are located on the
X- or Y-chromosomes are call sex-linked. Genes on the other 22 pairs of
chromosomes are called autosomal. It is currently believed that the genes
governing common baldness are autosomal. This means that the baldness trait
can be inherited from the mother’s or the father’s side of the family. The
commonly held notion that baldness comes only from the mother’s side of the
family is incorrect, although for reasons not fully understood, the predisposition
inherited from an affected mother is of slightly greater importance than that
inherited from an affected father. The term "dominant" means that only one gene
of a pair is needed for the trait to show up in the individual. A "recessive" gene
means that both genes must be present in order for the trait to be expressed.
The genes involved in androgenetic alopecia are believed to be dominant.
Just because a person has the genes for baldness does not mean the trait
will manifest itself. The ability of a gene to affect one’s characteristics, i.e. be
visible in a particular individual, is called "expressivity." Expressivity relates to a
number of factors, the major ones being hormones and age, although stress and
other factors may play a role. To put it simply, a man whose father and uncles
are severely bald may have minimal hair loss himself because the expression of
the baldness gene is limited.
None of the genes responsible for male pattern baldness has yet been
identified. This suggests that any kind of genetic engineering to prevent common
baldness is still many years away.
Hormones
Hormones are biochemical substances produced by various glands
throughout the body. These glands secrete their products directly into the
bloodstream in order to spread them throughout the body. These chemicals are
very powerful and minute amounts of them have profound effects upon the body.
The primary male sex hormone is testosterone. Testosterone and other
related hormones that have masculinizing effects are produced primarily in the
testicles. This means that the hormonal levels that are seen in adults do not
reached significant levels until the testicles develop and enlarge during puberty.
These same hormones are the cause of many changes that occur in puberty:
deepening of the voice, growth of facial hair, development of body odor, change
in the muscular development, and change in body shape. These hormones that
cause acne and beard growth can also signal the beginning of baldness. The
presence of androgens, testosterone, and its related hormone DHT, cause some
follicles to regress and die. In addition to the testicles, the adrenal glands located
above each of our kidneys, produce androgenic hormones; this is true for both
sexes. In females, ovaries, like testicles, are a source of hormones that can
affect hair.
The relationship between a man’s testicles and hair loss has been
recognized for centuries. In societies that had harems, guards were castrated to
prevent sexual activity between the guards and women of the harem. In all of
those societies, it was observed that men who were castrated before puberty did
not become bald. Early in the 20th century, castration was common among
patients with certain types of mental illness. Castration seemed to have a
calming effect, and noticeably reduced sex drive in patients. A psychiatrist
discovered the specific relationship between testosterone and hormonally
induced hair loss during this time. The doctor noted that the identical twin
brother of one patient was profoundly bald while the mentally ill twin had a full
head of hair. The doctor decided to determine the effect of treating his patient
with testosterone, which had recently become available as a drug. He injected
his patient, the hairy twin, with testosterone to see what would happen. Within
weeks, the hairy twin began to lose all but his wreath of permanent hair, just like
his normal twin. The doctor stopped administrating testosterone; however, his
patient never regained his full head of hair.
The hormone believed to be most directly involved in androgenetic
alopecia is dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is formed by the action of the
enzyme 5-a reductase on testosterone. DHT acts by binding to special receptor
sites on the cells of hair follicles to cause the specific changes associated with
balding. Among other effects, DHT decreases the length of the anagen
(growing) cycle, and increases the telogen (resting) phase, so that with each new
cycle the hair shaft becomes progressively smaller.
In men, 5-a reductase activity is higher in the balding area. Women have
half the amount of 5-a reductase overall as compared to men, but have higher
levels of the enzyme aromatase, especially in their frontal hairlines. Aromatase
decreases the formation of DHT, and its presence in women may help to explain
why female hair loss is somewhat different than hair loss in males.
Time
The mere presence of the necessary genes and hormones is insufficient
to cause baldness. Hair loss also requires exposure of susceptible hair follicles to
the responsible hormones. The time required for hair loss to start due to hormone
exposure varies from one individual to another, and relates to a person’s
genetic expression and to the levels of testosterone and DHT in his bloodstream.
Significantly, hair loss does not occur all at once, but is cyclical. People who are
losing their hair experience alternating periods of slow hair loss, rapid hair loss,
and even stability (no increase in hair loss). The factors that cause the rate of
loss to speed up or slow down are unknown.
Stress
When the body experiences stress caused by a traumatic experience,
nutritional deficiency, or illness, the rate of hair loss can increase. An example of
this occurred in a man whose four-year-old child died. Within just a few months,
he lost all but the permanent wreath of hair around his head.
Women's hair seems to be more sensitive to the effects of stress than
men's hair. This may be because women with a genetic predisposition towards
hair loss usually have a higher percentage of fragile miniaturized hair. It is
important to note that stress generally causes the type of hair loss referred to as
telogen effluvium. This is very different from androgenetic alopecia. Telogen
effluvium is the reversible shedding of hair in the resting phase when the body
senses that it needs to divert its energies elsewhere. Therefore, stress
temporarily changes the amount of hair that is shed, but the lost hair is likely to
grow back.
Fiction
Lack of Blood Supply
Some assert that a lack of blood supply contributes to hair loss. Bald skin
gradually loses some of its blood supply and, consequently, it becomes thin and
shiny. These changes, however, are secondary to the loss of hair. Hair follicles
are one of the most rapidly metabolizing tissues in the body; their high metabolic
rate demands an excellent blood supply to carry oxygen and other nutrients to
the cells. If the blood supply diminishes, the follicle cells wither and die. Growing
hair requires the proper nutrition that comes with a good blood supply. When hair
follicles are transplanted into skin grafts or scar tissue, both of which have a
relatively poor blood supply, the presence of the grafted hair causes the local
blood supply to increase.
Clogged Pores
This claim usually accompanies microscopic photographs of an empty
follicle clogged with a heaped up waxy substance that prevented the hair from
growing. There is no scientific evidence that clogged pores could interfere with
hair growth. Common sense is sufficient to refute these claims. Why would pores
be clogged on the top of the scalp and not on the back and sides? In addition,
everyone has had an ingrown hair at one time or another. An ingrown hair occurs
when a hair grows through intact skin where there is no opening. If a hair can
force its way through skin, it can certainly grow through soft, waxy sebum at the
bottom of an empty follicle. It is also important to note that the lubricants that
normally coat the surface of the hair shaft are produced even when a hair shaft
falls out. Since there is no hair shaft surface for these lubricants to coat, they pile
up in the bottom of the follicle space. If clogged pores caused baldness, women
would be as bald as men.
Lack of Air Circulation to the Head
Folklore says that men who constantly wear hats are more likely to
become bald, as hats prevent air from circulating to the head. Hair follicles get
their oxygen through the bloodstream, however, rather than from ambient air.
Factors that affect only the exposed part of the hair do not injure the growing
portion of the hair root. One exception to this is that constant traction on the hair
follicles, such as from the continuous wearing of "corn rows" or very tight braids,
can cause permanent hair loss. This condition is called traction alopecia, and is
distinct from androgenetic alopecia.
Preventing Hair Loss
Many over-the-counter lotions and drugs claim to restore lost hair.
Whether sold through drug stores, salons or mass media, most are useless. A
1989 Supreme Court decision prevents these potions from being advertised or
sold in the United States as medications that prevent hair loss or promote the regrowth of lost hair; however, such claims are still made.
Charlatans of every
age have eagerly seized upon each new scientific wonder to profit from a gullible
public. Excepting cancer and arthritis, hair restoration has been one of the most
fertile areas for medical nostrums. For example, in the same year that the
principle of the magnetic field was described, "magnetic" and "electric"
hairbrushes for the prevention and treatment of baldness appeared on the
market. Concoctions that claimed to be "snake oils" were also sold for the
treatment of arthritis and baldness. In hindsight, it is understandable that an
unsophisticated person, who was crippled by pain from arthritis and who lived at
a time when there was no better treatment for his illness, might be desperate
enough to try "snake oil" as a treatment for arthritis. However, until the Supreme
Court decision banning their promotion, ads for products that claimed to be able
to restore hair filled the television airwaves. Infomercials complete with real
doctors, pictures, and testimonials promoted these worthless potions every day.
Even today, it is difficult for the layperson to differentiate between fact and fiction
when it comes to hair loss remedies. There are two FDA approved medications
to treat androgenetic alopecia. Though they have limited benefit, they may be
useful for many. These two medications, minoxidil and finasteride, are discussed
in detail in the chapter titled "Drugs to Prevent Hair Loss."
Chapter 4
How Bald Will I Be?
For most men, the first sign of excessive hair loss is the appearance of
more hairs than usual on their comb or brush. Some men first notice excess hair
at the bottom of the bathtub or on their fingers after shampooing. Men who are
going to lose a very large amount of hair usually see the first signs between the
ages of 17 and 25. Men whose fathers or grandfathers on either side of the
family were bald, will probably notice the hair loss before someone who has no
apparent family history of baldness. Sensitized to the possibility of hair loss, they
are waiting for the process to begin.
As soon as he notices any sign of excess hair loss, the typical man will
rush to a mirror to do a hair-by-hair inspection of his frontal hairline. If he cannot
see any sign of hair loss, he may compare his present hairline with one from a
recent photo. He will continue to closely observe his hairline every day. He will
also attempt to keep, a hair-by-hair count of the hair on his comb, his fingers, or
in the tub. Dark-haired men notice the hair loss process earlier that light-haired
men do.
Some men resort to potions, regimens, or shampoos. A good shampoo
will clean your hair, but no shampoo will stop the balding process. These
approaches may offer the comfort of doing something during the early phase of
hair loss, but eventually the futility of these measures will become obvious.
What can a man do? How can he cope with the disintegration of his
youthful looks? What will he look like without hair? How will this affect his ability
to attract a partner? How will his professional life be affected? Will the change
affect his ability to gain a promotion? Will his ability to sell his product line to
clients be affected? Anything that erodes self-confidence can have a negative
effect upon all aspects of life.
The first step is to make an assessment of the extent of hair loss. One way to do
this is to compare your present hairline with your hairline in a recent photograph.
This will give you an approximation of the amount and rate of your hair loss. An
unknown factor for most men is the extent of hair loss in the crown area. Looking
in a mirror is one way to appraise the loss at the back of your head. The best way
to accurately assess the hair loss in this area is to have a photo taken of the back
of your head. For an accurate reading, the picture must be taken with a flash.
Almost every man who has significant loss in this area is surprised by the results.
Another way is to ask your significant other, barber or hairdresser.
If hair loss is bothering you, a visit to a physician who specializes in hair
restoration is a worthwhile step. A thorough medical history and examination of
the scalp can reveal the extent and trends of your hair loss. With the use of
special magnifying apparatuses, a physician can specifically measure the degree
of hair loss in various areas of the scalp. This establishes a baseline from which
your hair loss can be graded over time. If you decide to treat your hair loss with
minoxidil or finasteride, a repeat examination in 6-12 months may show the
effectiveness of the treatment. Careful assessment of hair loss is critical to
accurate prediction of the rate and extent of future hair loss.
Once you have confirmed your hair loss, you should compare your degree
of baldness with the standard charts that follow. These charts have been adapted
from the patterns described by Dr. O'Tar Norwood. They depict the most
common configurations of male pattern baldness. There are seven grades of
hair loss in the main series and five grades of a variation called the A series.
Comparing the front and back of your scalp with these diagrams can tell you
where you stand now. Discussion with a knowledgeable physician can give you
an idea of future hair loss.
The next step is to decide whether to accept your hair loss or take
measures to stop or reverse the process. If you are less than 45 years old, you
might consider using minoxidil or seeing a doctor for a prescription for finasteride.
One option is to obtain a hairpiece. Another option is to replace lost hair with your
own natural, permanent hair via hair transplant surgery.
Chapter 5
Drugs to Prevent Hair Loss
For years, worthless hair potions have been sold to men to rub on their
balding scalps. Finally, two effective medications exist for the treatment of hair
loss.
Minoxidil (Rogaine)
Minoxidil, as an oral medication, has been available for a number of years
for the treatment of high blood pressure. Because of its serious side effects on
the heart and general circulation, it is only used with patients unsuccessfully
treated with the maximum doses of other drugs. During its use as a treatment for
high blood pressure, it was observed that some patients who were taking
minoxidil began growing hair in unusual areas of the body, such as the forehead
and on the backs of their hands. It was thought that applying minoxidil directly to
a bald scalp might cause hair growth in that area. If hair growth occurred without
other side effects, then it might be useful to healthy balding men. It was then
proven that when a topical solution of minoxidil was applied to bald scalps, some
men grew hair in the areas where it was applied.
Rogaine, manufactured by Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., is the brand name
for the topically applied minoxidil solution. It can be purchased without a
prescription in either 2% or 4% concentrations. Although the mechanism that
causes minoxidil to stimulate hair growth is not known, it probably works by
prolonging the hair follicle growth cycle. Controlled studies on minoxidil show that
it only grows hair in the vertex (back part) of a man’s scalp, and only in areas that
are not completely bald. It does not usually re-grow hair in the front part of a bald
scalp.
It appears that minoxidil's effects may only be temporary. Since
testosterone is always present in the blood stream, this hormone eventually
overcomes the effects of the minoxidil so that over time, men using minoxidil
continue to bald, although at a somewhat slower rate. The concomitant use of
minoxidil and finasteride (see next section) may circumvent this problem, as
there is evidence that in some cases these drugs may act synergistically.
Before trying minoxidil, be aware that it may take 6-12 months before
results start to appear. In addition, unless the medication is used consistently
twice a day, it will not be effective. For most men, minoxidil does not grow any
significant amount of new hair. The primary action of minoxidil is to thicken
already existing hair that has thinned or miniaturized, and most patients who do
grow hair, grow only short, thin fuzz.
The majority of patients who experience benefits from minoxidil see only a
delay or decrease in hair loss. For many men, the effects are first noticed when
they stop using the medication. Once the drug use is stopped, the previous
pattern of hair loss resumes, and any positive effects are lost within two to three
months, even if the medication had been used for many years. This same
limitation applies to other drugs used for hair loss.
Many patients are attracted to minoxidil because of its seeming lower cost
compared to other methods of hair replacement. However, because the effects of
minoxidil are temporary, the lifetime cost of using minoxidil can be more
expensive than the cost of hairpieces or surgical treatments for hair loss.
Minoxidil is often prescribed in conjunction with other medications such as
topical retinoic acid (Retin-A) to increase its topical penetration. These
medications can greatly increase the systemic absorption of minoxidil and may
increase the risk of potential side effects, including severe scalp irritation. The
prescribing information provided by Upjohn specifically states Rogaine should not
be used with other topical agents including topical corticosteroids, retinoids,
petrolatum and/or other agents that are known to enhance drug absorption. One
should not use Rogaine if one's scalp is sunburned or becomes irritated.
A problem unique to patients using the combined mixture of
minoxidil/Retin-A occurs when scalp irritation begins and the patient is afraid to
stop the Retin-A since this would also mean discontinuation of the minoxidil (and
the likely outcome of subsequent hair loss). These patients often continue the
mixture in spite of the development of severe scalp irritation. This can result in
infection, scarring and permanent hair loss.
The early studies with minoxidil were on balding men, but it appears that
minoxidil may actually be more effective for women experiencing hair loss. This
is probably because women usually exhibit diffuse hair loss. Minoxidil, then,
would not be applied to bald areas, but in areas of thinning. Some doctors
recommend minoxidil before and after hair transplantation to decrease or prevent
the temporary loss of hair that sometimes occurs with newly placed grafts,
however, this use has not yet been proven to be reliably effective.
Finally, although it seems that the topical preparation of minoxidil is
innocuous, the long-term safety unknown. As with many medications, the clinical
trials with minoxidil occurred over a very limited period of time. Since the
medication must be continued for years, we may presently be unaware of
potential long-term problems.
Finasteride (Propecia)
Propecia is an oral medication, manufactured by Merck, that blocks the
conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the hormone largely
responsible for male pattern baldness. It does this by inhibiting the action of the
type II 5-alpha reductase enzyme that is present in higher concentrations in and
around the hair follicles of balding men with androgenetic alopecia.
Finasteride causes significant drops in both scalp and blood levels of DHT.
Its effectiveness is believed to be related to both of these factors. In patients
taking finasteride 1-mg/day, serum DHT levels decreased by 68.4%. Serum
testosterone levels actually increased by 9.1% but remained within the normal
range.
Finasteride was originally marketed for use in prostate enlargement in
men over 50 (the prostate also has the type II enzyme). This medication, in a 5mg per day dose, is sold under the name Proscar. In the treatment of prostate
problems, finasteride 5-mg has produced breast tenderness and breast
enlargement. It has also caused impotence and decreased sexual interest in a
small number of men.
In January 1998, the FDA approved finasteride 1-mg/day (Propecia) for
the treatment of male pattern baldness. The phase III human trials, using the 1mg dose, involved 1,553 men, ages 18 to 41, with Class II Vertex, III Vertex, IV
or V balding patterns, i.e. men with mild to moderate hair loss. After two years,
results showed that 83% of the men taking finasteride either kept their hair or
grew more, while only 17% continued to lose hair. In the crown, 30% showed
slight improvement, 31% showed moderate improvement and 5% showed great
improvement. In the front, 38% showed slight improvement, 4% showed
moderate improvement, and none great improvement.
Hair counts showed an average gain of 86 hairs in a one-inch circle at the
end of one year. These hairs were significantly larger than the fine, miniaturized
hair seen in balding, but they did not necessarily assume the full weight and
diameter of the patient’s original hair.
Sexual Dysfunction
Although uncommon, there can be side effects from finasteride at the 1mg dose. At least one study has shown that these side effects include
decreased libido (1.8%), impotence (1.3%), and decreased volume of ejaculate
(1.2%). It is important to note that there was a small incidence of these problems
in the control group as well. Altogether, 3.8% of men taking finasteride 1-mg
experienced some form of sexual dysfunction versus 2.1% in men treated with a
placebo.
Most reported cases of sexual dysfunction occurred soon after starting the
medication, but there have been reports of sexual dysfunction that have occurred
at later points in time. The sexual side effects were reversed in all men who
discontinued therapy, and in 58% of those who continued treatment. When the
medication was stopped, side effects generally went away within weeks, but
occasionally took longer.
If sexual side effects occur, they generally begin well before finasteride
has had a chance to visibly effect hair growth. Therefore, men who experience
side effects can discontinue the Propecia at this time without losing any
additional hair. Like minoxidil, when finasteride is discontinued, one loses the
hair gained or preserved by the medication, not more. In effect, the patient
returns to the level of balding that would have been had he never used the
drugs in the first place.
Gynecomastia
Adverse reactions related to the breast, including breast tenderness or
enlargement (gynecomastia), occurred in 0.4% of men taking finasteride 1-mg
(Propecia), but this was no greater than in the control group. Breast enlargement
in patients taking finasteride may be due to its ability to block the conversion of
testosterone to DHT. This, in turn, may cause more testosterone to be converted
to estrogen, with estrogen then stimulating breast tissue. There have been a few
cases of breast cancer in patients on the 5-mg dose, but a causative relationship
with finasteride has not been established.
Effects on PSA
Finasteride causes an approximate 1/3 decrease in serum PSA (prostate
specific antigen) in normal men. It may also blunt the rise of PSA levels in
patients with prostate enlargement and in patients who have developed prostate
cancer. Since PSA is used to screen for prostate cancer, there is concern that
the use of Propecia may interfere with the detection of this disease. It is
important that you make your personal physician aware that you are taking
finasteride so that he or she can take into account any effects that finasteride
may have on your PSA.
There has been one small study that suggested that finasteride at 5-mg
may increase the risk of prostatic carcinoma in older patients who have an
already significantly elevated PSA. However, the methodology of this study has
been seriously questioned and data from other studies do not support its
conclusion.
Teratogenecity in Women
Finasteride should not be taken by women of childbearing age as birth
defects in male offspring can occur if significant amounts of the drug are
absorbed during fetal development. Pregnant women are warned not to handle
crushed tablets, as the drug may harm the male fetus. However, to our
knowledge, there has not been a single reported case of birth defects caused by
women handling broken or crushed finasteride tablets. The concern over
handling crushed tablets may stem from the FDA policy, which assumes
maximum absorption of the medication during any contact.
There is no evidence that exposure of pregnant women to finasteride via
semen is a risk to the fetus. For those patients who wish to limit any potential
contact of Finasteride, a condom can be worn during intercourse with a pregnant
partner.
Use in Post-Menopausal Women
A recent study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of finasteride in
post-menopausal women. After one year of use, there was no increased hair
growth and the progression of thinning was not slowed. It is possible that the
low DHT levels observed in post-menopausal women are responsible for the lack
of significant response to finasteride, or that hair loss in this group is not related
to androgens as all. The safety profile for the use of finasteride in postmenopausal women has not yet been established.
Long-Term Benefits and Risks
The effects of finasteride are confined to areas of the scalp that are
thinning, but where there is still some hair present. Finasteride does not seem to
grow hair in completely bald areas. Therefore, the major benefit of finasteride
seems to be in its ability to slow down or halt hair loss, or re-grow hair in parts of
the scalp where the hair is thin. The long-term ability of finasteride to maintain
one’s hair is unknown. Results generally peak at one to two years and then
decrease slightly after that.
The benefits of finasteride will stop if the medication is discontinued. Over
the 2-6 months following discontinuation, the hair loss pattern will generally
return to where it would have been if the medication had never been used.
Finasteride has now been in clinical use for almost 10 years. The small,
but real, incidence of adverse reactions seen with finasteride underscores the
fact that its actions are not entirely specific or fully understood. Only very longterm experience with this medication will determine all of its potential effects.
Finasteride and Hair Transplantation
Finasteride can be a useful adjunct to surgical hair restoration for a number
of reasons. Finasteride works best in the younger patient who may not yet be a
candidate for hair transplantation. It is also less effective in the front part of the
scalp, the area where surgical hair restoration can offer the greatest cosmetic
improvement. It can regrow, or stabilize hair loss in the back part of the scalp
where hair transplantation may not always be indicated.
If finasteride is proven safe and effective in the very long-term, it will allow
the hair restoration surgeon to create more density in the most cosmetically
important areas (such as the front part of the scalp), since keeping reserves for
future hair loss in other areas will be less of a concern.
Patient Monitoring
It is recommended that men age 50 or over, should consult with their
regular physician or urologist before using finasteride. It is also recommended
that all men age 50 or over have a routine annual evaluation for prostate disease,
regardless of whether finasteride is used. For those patients who are black
and/or who have a family history of prostate disease, these recommendations
would apply beginning at age 40. An evaluation may include a rectal
examination, a baseline PSA test, and other exams that your physician feels are
appropriate.
Chapter 6
What is a Hair Transplant?
The basic concept of hair transplantation is straightforward and easily
understood. The hair growing on the sides and lower part of the back of the
head is permanent in most people. It persists even in advanced degrees of male
pattern baldness because follicles in these locations are not subject to the
deleterious affects of the hormone DHT, a byproduct of testosterone. The
characteristics of the individual follicles move with them when they are
transplanted. Therefore, permanent hair will remain permanent regardless of
where it is transplanted, a phenomena termed “donor dominance.” This is the
basis of hair transplantation.
In the process of hair restoration surgery, permanent hair is redistributed
to cover the areas of the head where the hair has thinned or has been lost. No
new hair is actually created; existing hair is just moved around. Therefore, there
is never a “net” increase in total hair volume. In spite of this, a skillfully
performed hair transplant procedure can make a person “look” as though he or
she has more hair, often considerably more.
The process of hair restoration is an aesthetic exercise as well as a
technical feat. Re-distributing hair on a person’s head is like painting a portrait.
The physician should attempt to create a natural looking result that is consistent
with the hair supply, the specific hair characteristics of the patient, and most
important, the patient's goals.
As with other forms of cosmetic surgery, the art is at least as important as the
surgical technique. The hair transplant surgeon must have a thorough
understanding of human facial anatomy; good basic surgical skills and a
thorough knowledge of different hair transplant techniques. The physician must
know the physiology of hair in depth, and understand basic medical conditions
that affect the scalp. He must be aware of, and be able to critically evaluate, new
developments in the field. Finally, the specialist must study each patient carefully
and tailor each procedure to the patient's unique attributes and needs.
History
Transplantation of portions of hair-bearing skin from either animals or
humans has been done with varying degrees of success since the early 1800’s.
However, significant modern developments in hair transplantation did not occur
until the next century. In 1939, a Japanese dermatologist named Okuda first
described the punch technique of hair transplantation. Dr. Okuda, working on
severe burn patients, transplanted round grafts of skin containing hair follicles
from the permanent hair-bearing areas into slightly smaller round openings in
scarred areas of scalp. The grafts continued to produce hair in their new
locations. In 1943, another Japanese dermatologist, Dr. Tamura, used 1-3 hair
micrografts to restore female pubic hair. These very small micro-grafts were
obtained from a single elliptical incision taken from the donor area. Interestingly,
his techniques were very similar to those we are using today. The work of both
of these physicians were published in Japanese medical journals, but their
pioneering procedures remained unknown to the Western World because of
World War II.
Hair transplantation was rediscovered by Dr. Norman Orentreich in New
York City in 1952, where he performed the first hair transplant for male pattern
alopecia. In 1959, Dr. Orentreich published his work in the Annals of the New
York Academy of Science (after several years of rejection by a disbelieving
medical community). In this publication he put forth his theory of “donor
dominance” and this began the “modern” era of hair transplantation.
Unfortunately, his work paralleled the “punch” technique of Okuda, rather than
the “micrograft” technique of Tamura and so, by the 1960’s, hair restoration
surgery in the United States was off and running, but in the wrong direction.
What is a Hair Graft?
During hair transplant surgery, small grafts of skin containing hair follicles
are removed from the areas of permanent hair in the back and on the sides of the
head, and moved to the areas where balding or thinning occurs. The grafts are
placed into openings created in the bald area where hair is desired. The
openings can be slits (incisions where tissue is not removed), a punch hole, or
laser hole (where recipient tissue is actually removed or destroyed). Both the
size of the grafts and the size of the wounds where they are placed have
become smaller over the past 40 years. This decrease in size has made the
transplants dramatically more natural in appearance.
The way the transplanted hair follicle behaves differs from most other
“organ” transplants. When kidney, heart or liver transplants are performed, the
person receiving the transplant must remain on powerful immune suppressing
medications to prevent rejection, as the organs are generally transplanted from
one person to another. Since a hair transplant is an “autograft,” (a transplant
from one part of the body to another) there is no rejection and no medications are
required.
Different Graft Sizes
Hair grafts are divided into four general categories: traditional standard
grafts, minigrafts, micrografts, and follicular unit grafts. Traditional standard
grafts are 3-4 mm in diameter and have 12-30 hairs per graft. Minigrafts are
smaller, 1.2-2.5 mm in diameter, and have 4-12 hairs per graft. Micrografts are
even smaller measuring 1.5-1.0 mm or less in diameter, with 1-3 hairs per graft.
Follicular units are the naturally growing groups of hair follicles. Each follicular
unit graft contains 1-4 hair follicles.
Although minigrafts and micrografts are a significant improvement over the
larger grafts, they are not ideal. The idea was reasonable: to keep the number of
hairs in each graft low. However, mini-micrografts were moved in unnatural
arrangements and the naturally growing groups of hair were ignored. This is
because in minigrafting and micrografting, the donor hair is harvested with a
multi-bladed knife. This instrument that breaks up naturally occurring follicular
units and causes unavoidable damage to follicles. Focusing on the number of
hairs, rather than the naturally growing groups, minigrafting and micrografting
damage the follicles, causing a significant transplant failure rate. Micrografts tend
to produce a thin look when used exclusively over the entire head, and often
produce inconsistent graft growth.
Follicular unit grafts are based upon the observation that hair emerges from the
scalp in naturally occurring clusters called follicular units. Each follicular unit is
comprised of one to four terminal hairs. By using the follicular unit as the base
unit of the transplant, the surgeon can create hair patterns that mimic the way
hair grows naturally. The art of the follicular unit approach is that the
characteristics of the patient’s hair dictate the size of the implant (rather than the
doctor). The surgeon determines distribution and balance. By preserving both the
natural physiologic and aesthetic elements of human hair, the best cosmetic
results can be achieved.
There are many advantages of Follicular Unit Transplantation over
micrografting. A fuller look is achieved, as the grafts can be of the same size (or
even smaller) than micrografts yet contain more hair. Graft growth is more
consistent than when the follicular units are split up. Recipient wounds heal
more quickly because sites in the recipient area are smaller, and the results look
more natural. Follicular unit transplantation allows the doctor to distribute grafts
to mimic the way hair grows naturally in the patient’s own scalp.
Follicular Unit Transplantation enables the surgeon to restore more hair
using a smaller amount of donor tissue, as the technique is more efficient than
minigrafting and micrografting. The tissue between the follicular groups is
dissected away, while the vital support structures around the unit are preserved.
Cobblestoning (irregularities in the surface of the scalp) and depigmentation (the
appearance of whitish blemishes of the transplanted skin) can be avoided
because excess skin in the grafts has been removed, making the grafts
significantly smaller. The follicular units produce very small physiologic implants,
that can, in turn, be inserted into very small sites. In addition, larger amounts of
hair may be safely moved in one session reducing the necessity for multiple
procedures. The patient benefits significantly with less time devoted to
restoration, fewer procedures and, often, a lower cost per graft.
The large plugs used in the past, transplanted far too much bald skin in
each graft. Minigrafts and micrografts also consist of multiple (partial or
complete) follicular units along with the intervening skin. Even micrografts
containing as few as two or three hairs may contain unnecessary skin if the hair
was taken from two or more separate follicular units. Hair moved in these types
of grafts results in transplanted tissue that has the same ratio of follicles to skin
as the donor area. As healing occurs, the scar around the graft contracts,
pushing the hairs in the graft together, and the density of the hair within the graft
increases. The hair density within these larger grafts often exceeds the hair
density in the donor area. This higher hair density within grafts is intrinsic to the
principles of scar contraction, and produces the pluggy appearance of traditional
grafts.
There are other problems associated with the use of the larger grafts. It
takes four to six days for the buds of new capillary blood vessels to grow into the
grafts from the surrounding tissue. Until these new blood vessels grow into the
grafts, the graft’s cells depend upon the surrounding tissue fluid seeping into
them to bring them oxygen and nutrients. Hair follicle cells have a very high
metabolic rate, and they require more oxygen and other nutrients than other
cells. If the graft is too large, the cells of the follicles in the center of the graft may
die before sufficient oxygen and nutrients can reach the center of the graft. The
follicles at the periphery of the graft survive because they receive sufficient
oxygen. When hair finally grows from these larger grafts, it has a doughnut
configuration, with hair at the edges and a bald central area. This is one of the
numerous reasons why many doctors have changed to the use of smaller grafts.
Small Grafts vs. Large Grafts
To meet the demand for natural-looking hairlines, doctors began
decreasing the size of grafts in the 1980s. Smaller grafts had the advantage of
being less visible during the transition period after transplantation and before the
hair had grown in. Large grafts placed in a frontal hairline look pluggy and
unnatural when the hair was combed back or to the side. The patient in this
situation was forced to comb his hair forward and down to hide his hairline. When
large grafts are placed behind the hairline or in the crown, they tend to look like
intermittent clumps of hair and are very difficult to disguise.
The amount of time and work needed to place a large number of tiny
grafts is much greater than the time and work needed to place a smaller number
of larger grafts. Smaller grafts also produce a thinner (but more natural)
appearance. If the restoration process is stopped before completion, the patient
will still look natural. Larger grafts tend to obligate the patient to complete
multiple sessions in the quest for natural-looking results and the patient’s
appearance can be strikingly unnatural before the work is completed. Even with
additional work, the large graft transplants often fail to appear natural because
they are intrinsically clumpy. On close inspection, it is literally impossible for
large graft transplants to look and feel natural, even after the best work.
Patients should discuss the size of the grafts and the planned distribution
of the grafts in detail with their surgeons. Some surgeons use larger grafts for the
bulk of the work and then use smaller grafts in an attempt to hide the larger
grafts. Others only transplant small grafts. Some hair transplant surgeons invent
unusual terms for grafts in an attempt to make it appear that they have some
special, unique knowledge or technique. These terms are intended to imply
special variations in graft sizes or an invisible appearance of the grafts. Do not be
confused by arcane terminology. The potential patient should be wary when a
doctor claims to have a unique technology or technique that no other doctor
knows about or uses, unless it is documented and published in a peer-reviewed
medical journal.
Hybrid Grafting Technique
The use of larger grafts for the top and non-central portion of the crown
and smaller grafts for the frontal hairline and perimeter of the transplant has a
variety of names including the Hybrid Technique, Blend Grafting and
Variagrafting. Although this hybrid approach is detectable on close inspection, it
may not be noticeable in a social setting unless the hair is wet or the patient is in
bright sunlight. The results are best in patients who have curly, white or very
blonde hair. Although the look from a distance of two to three feet in soft lighting
may be relatively undetectable, on closer inspection it always is; and it will never
fool the barber.
In individuals with curly or wavy hair, the hybrid approach may be a
reasonable way to reduce the costs of the process. For individuals with straight
hair, such an approach can be disastrous, particularly if the color of the hair
stands out against distinctly contrasting skin tones. The hybrid procedure
generally costs less, and can be performed without the intense labor required for
larger sessions of small grafts. The larger grafts may range from 1.5 mm in size
to more than 2 mm in size. Another disadvantage for those who will accept the
hybrid compromise is that the larger grafts may become more evident when
further balding occurs, particularly when recession allows them to be viewed from
a different angle. The hybrid approach is more a short-term economic solution
than a long-term one and is not recommended by NHI physicians.
Appearance of Hair Transplants
What makes a hair transplant bad is that everyone can tell it is a
transplant. The uneven, patchy effect of the large pluggy grafts occurs when
large grafts are used and the spaces between the grafts are wide. This causes a
contrast between the bald skin and the islands or clumps of hair and creates a
“dolls-head” appearance. Traditional hair transplants also produce small subtle
deformities in the skin. Skin abnormalities with larger grafts occur for two
reasons. First, the surface of the transplanted skin may not be aligned with the
surface of the surrounding scalp (this is seen in larger hair grafts where the
transplanted skin has enough mass to produce the problem). Second, scar
contraction and/or skin dimpling occurs at the recipient site from the healing
process. As the grafts increase in size, these abnormalities occur with increasing
frequency. When the grafts are smaller than the critical size, these problems
rarely exist.
The natural hair mass is composed of hair groupings of one to four hairs
that are close together (follicular units). In nature, only single-hair follicular units
appear at the leading edge of the hairline. To appear natural, a hair transplant
should simulate that look as closely as possible. An ideal hair transplant consists
of follicular units placed closely together with naturally occurring single units
placed at the frontal edge of the hairline. When follicular grafts are placed into
small sites, skin deformities are rare, or nonexistent.
Method of Harvesting Grafts
There are four common methods of harvesting donor grafts. The original
method, devised by Dr. Orentreich, used a hand punch to cut single grafts 4-mm
in size that could contain up to 30 or more hairs. Each punch hole was
separated by small islands of skin. Besides producing very large grafts, there
was hair wastage around the periphery, due to transection and improper angling
of the punch. This method is now rarely used. A second method utilizes a
mechanical punch held in a small hand engine to core out a number of round
grafts of known size. The punch turns at very high speeds; the torque and heat
energy generated by this method will damage the donor grafts.
The donor grafts obtained by the punch
methods can be made into minigrafts by halving or quartering them. The donor
area can then be closed by suturing or can be left open. If the donor sites are
not closed, they develop significant scars. Most doctors have abandoned these
techniques.
The third method uses multiple, parallel scalpels attached together on a
handle, called a multi-bladed knife. Multiple thin strips of hair-bearing donor skin
are removed simultaneously and then grafts of the desired size are cut from the
thin strips of tissue produced by the multi-bladed knife. Using a scalpel does not
produce any torque or heat energy; therefore, no heat or torque damage to the
grafts can occur. This method is quick and simple and still quite popular.
Unfortunately, this method can cause extensive damage to the donor tissue, as it
is impossible to line up the multiple blades parallel to the hair follicles. Because
of this there is unacceptable cutting of individual follicles (transection) and
breaking up of naturally occurring follicular units.
In a fourth method, called single strip harvesting, the donor tissue is
removed as a single strip. The great advantage of this method is that the tissue
is removed from the scalp with the minimal amount of “blind” cutting. The only
blind cutting is the single incision around the periphery of the donor strip as it is
removed. All further dissection can be then performed by direct visualization
using a dissecting stereomicroscope. This keeps potential damage to follicles at
an absolute minimum and allows preservation of intact naturally occurring
follicular units. In order to perform Follicular Unit Transplantation, single strip
harvesting and stereo-microscopic dissection must be used.
Appearance of the Donor Area
Unless the back and side hair is extremely short, the donor area will be
covered by hair and will be unnoticeable after surgery. All donor “harvests” result
in a scar, but if done properly, the scars may become, for all practical purposes,
virtually invisible. Not only is it important for the scar to be closed meticulously,
but also the scar must be placed in the proper position, in the mid-portion of the
donor area. Scars that are place too low have an increased risk of stretching
from the movement of the neck muscles. Scars that are placed very high run the
risk of being visible if there is extensive balding. In addition, the hair that is
obtained from these high incisions may not be permanent.
Re-harvesting the same area is important to keep visible scaring to a
minimum and to keep the donor scar in the mid-portion of the permanent zone.
Some doctors harvest a new area for each surgery. When many surgeries are
done, these patients have a stepladder appearance of the back of the scalp from
the multiple scars. Each scar distorts the hair shafts in either side of the adjacent
skin. This distortion occurs because scars tend to contract. When contraction
occurs, the microscopic structures around the scar are pulled. If different donor
sites are chosen for each hair transplant procedure, the total area for distortion of
the hair follicles becomes quite extensive. Such distortions can affect the
surgeon’s ability to maximize the donor hair supply for more extensive hair
transplant restorations and often limit the surgeon’s ability to keep the donor site
undetectable. The following photographs demonstrate the contrast between
extensive scarring associated with multiple procedures, when donor hair is taken
from different areas for each procedure and a properly placed scar repeated from
the same location.
Scar Improvement
Hair transplant specialists are often confronted with patients whose donor
areas have been severely scarred by an older harvesting method, improper
harvesting techniques, too many surgeries, or, in the rare patient, a large scar
due to the patient’s individual healing tendencies. Frequently when scars occur,
they can be surgically improved. The modification of obvious scarring may be
attempted at the same time as a transplant procedure.
Hairlines
Proper selection of donor sites and graft sizes are extremely important
aspects of the surgery. Design of the hairline andplacement of the recipient sites
are also crucial to an aesthetically successful outcome. Some doctors create the
same standard hairline on every patient. This practice is less than ideal. Natural
hairlines vary from one individual to another as much as facial features do. The
hair transplant specialist must be aware of the spectrum of variations that
normally occur. Few natural hairlines are symmetrical; therefore, one should not
attempt to create a perfectly balanced hairline, as it is distinctly unnatural looking.
Men of European descent with naturally full heads of hair often have receded
corners at the temple or a slightly pointed hairline. Men from the Middle East and
Asia often have wide, flat hairlines with a gentler curve. Men of African descent
tend to have a very straight, flat hairline.
Errors can occur when over-demanding patients or over-aggressive
doctors place the hairline too low on the forehead, or restore the juvenile hairline.
The patient must have an active voice in all decisions concerning the placement
and design of the hairline, but it is up to the physician to educate the patient so
that his decisions will be appropriate in the future as well as the present. Faulty
decisions, once acted upon, will be permanent. The only remedy for a hairline
that has been placed too low is to remove the grafts surgically; a situation that is
better avoided than treated after the error has been made.
Hair and Its Variations
Certain hair types may be more common in certain human groups.
Understanding these characteristics may be critical in anticipating the results one
can expect. African hair is very curly. This single characteristic makes African
hair produce some of the best results in hair transplantation, but the dissection
must be performed with extreme care to avoid damage to the curved follicles.
Most Asian hair is black, coarse and straight, making this hair type the
most difficult when striving for good reconstruction results with traditional hair
transplant techniques, especially when the skin is fair. Korean hair, for example,
requires very small grafts (usually one to two hairs per graft) to produce a natural
look. In fair-haired Caucasians with a low contrast between hair and skin tones,
hair transplant results can be spectacular, as the fair skin and blonde hair color
match closely. Using only naturally occurring individual follicular units will
produce natural results with all hair and skin types.
In addition to the variation of size and character of the terminal hairs in
different areas of the head, hair grows in different directions in different parts of
the scalp. Hair in back of the head grows backward and downward; hair in the
front and top grows forward; hair on the sides of the head grows away from the
middle of the head. The place where they meet in the crown is reflected in the
"cowlick." The art of your surgeon should reflect knowledge of your natural
growth patterns, your hairstyle preferences, and how you want your hair to look
when groomed or un-groomed. To create a natural looking head of hair, the
grafts that go into the recipient area should produce hair that is as close as
possible in consistency and direction to the original hair and should reflect the
various characteristics of both your hair and heritage.
A working knowledge of the nuances of different hair characteristics is
essential in producing an ideal result. Fine techniques are necessary to make
perfect donor grafts that are exactly parallel to the direction of the hair shafts of
the original hair in the transplanted area. Artistry is required to design a hairline
that is appropriate to the size and shape of the patient’s head. Precision must be
employed for the proper placement of the many small grafts.
The Fast Track® Method
The technique of performing a large number of grafts in a single session
was introduced in Brazil at the clinic of Dr. Carlos Uebel in the mid-1980’s. Work
of a similar nature was performed a little later in Austria, Germany, and Japan.
Dr. Uebel's focus was on moving one- to two-hair grafts in quantities of up to
1,500 grafts in a single session.
In 1992, New Hair Institute expanded upon the earlier micrograft
procedures to perform large megasessions of 2,000-3,000 very small 1-3 hair
grafts in a single session and called this the Fast Track® method. The procedure
was popularized worldwide when, in 1994 and 1995, NHI brought several dozen
live patients with their work completed to two conventions of the ISHRS
(International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons) in the United States and
Canada and showed the results of these megasessions.
The results were so impressive that they put to rest the challenges to
NHI's Fast Track® method and put the "Megasession" permanently on the map.
In 1995, NHI began using only follicular units in these large sessions and called
the procedure Follicular Transplantation. The name was formally changed to
Follicular Unit Transplantation in 1998.
Although Dr. Uebel’s balding patients did not necessarily have the
appearance of full heads of hair, they were able to achieve thin natural heads of
hair in single sessions to frame their faces. They also had the opportunity to stop
after just one session without worrying about an unfinished appearance. The
Fast Track® approach takes these advances a step further and makes the
transplant reconstruction fit into a socially acceptable time period. The most
distinct difference between the Fast Track® and other similar transplantation
procedures is the high number of hair follicles that are moved in naturally growing
follicular units. This dramatically reduces the number of procedures required.
The Fast Track® method may condense the entire hair transplantation
process into one or two surgical procedures. With this approach, each procedure
may stand on its own, and subsequent procedures are simply the decision of the
patient to add additional density or refinement. If more than one procedure is
desired, another can be performed in as little as 8 months, if appropriate. A
second procedure should await the results of the earlier procedure before
reassessing goals and determining the cosmetic effects of the first procedure.
This means that density may be added incrementally, and that the patient may
stop with just one procedure if he chooses to do so and still achieve an attractive
and natural outcome. With the Fast Track® method, the number of surgeries is
minimized, as is the disruption of the patient’s life.
Chapter 7
What is Follicular Unit Transplantation?
What are Follicular Units?
Human hair grows in tiny bundles called follicular units. Although this fact
had been recognized for some time by histologists (doctors who study human
tissue), the existence of follicular units has been largely ignored by physicians
performing hair restoration surgery.
The follicular unit of the adult human scalp consists of 1-4 terminal (full
thickness) hair follicles. In areas of the scalp affected by genetic balding, the
healthy terminal hairs are gradually replaced by hairs of smaller diameter and
length called “miniaturized” hairs.
In addition to the full terminal hairs, the follicular unit contains 1-2 fine
vellus hairs, sebaceous (oil) glands, a small muscle, tiny nerves and blood
vessels, and a fine band of collagen that surrounds the unit (the perifolliculum).
The follicular unit is thus the hair bearing structure of the skin and should be kept
intact to insure maximum growth.
The follicular unit is seen on the surface of the scalp as a tiny group of
hairs that appear to be growing together. They are best viewed under a
microscope where they are seen as well-formed structures in the skin.
What is Follicular Unit Transplantation?
Follicular Unit Transplantation is a technique, pioneered by the physicians
at the New Hair Institute, in which hair is transplanted from the permanent zone
in the back of the scalp into areas affected by genetic balding (and some other
types of hair loss), using only the naturally occurring, individual follicular units. In
order to remove follicular units from the back of the scalp without damaging
them, the donor tissue must be removed in one piece. This technique, “single
strip harvesting,” is an essential component of follicular unit transplantation as it
not only preserves the follicular units, but also prevents damage (transection) to
the individual hair follicles. It differs dramatically from the minigrafting and
micrografting technique of using a multi-bladed knife that breaks up follicular
units and causes unacceptable levels of transection of hair follicles.
Another essential component of Follicular Unit Transplantation is
“stereomicroscopic dissection.” In this technique all of the follicular units are
removed from the donor tissue under total microscopic control to avoid damage.
Complete stereomicroscopic dissection has been shown to produce an increased
yield (as much as 30%) of both the absolute number of follicular units, as well as
the total amount of hair. (This procedure differs from minigrafting and
micrografting in which grafts are cut using minimal or no magnification.)
A major advantage of follicular unit transplantation (besides preserving
follicular units and maximizing growth) is that it allows the surgeon to use small
recipient sites. Grafts comprised of individual follicular units are small because
follicular units are small, and because the surrounding non-hair bearing tissue is
removed under the microscope is not trans-
planted. Follicular unit grafts can be inserted into tiny needlesized sites in the recipient area, that heal in just a few days, without leaving any
marks.
When performed by a skilled surgical team, Follicular Unit Transplantation
can produce totally natural-looking hair transplants that maximize the yield from
the patient’s donor supply to give the best possible cosmetic results. Because
the tiny follicular unit grafts (and the very small wounds they are placed in) allow
large number of grafts to be safely transplanted in one procedure, the total
restoration can be completed in the fewest possible sessions.
The Reason for Using Only Follicular Units
The fact that scalp hair grows in follicular units, rather than individually, is
most easily observed by densitometry, a
simple technique whereby scalp hair is clipped short in a very small area and
then observed via magnification in a 10mm2 field. What is very obvious when
one examines the scalp by this method, is that follicular units are relatively
compact, but
are surrounded by substantial amounts of non–hair bearing
skin. The actual proportion of non-hair bearing skin is probably on the order of
50%, so that its inclusion in the dissection (or, conversely, its removal) will have a
substantial effect upon the outcome of the surgery. When multiple follicular units
are used (as in minigrafting and micrografting) the additional skin that is included
will adversely affect the outcome of the surgery, by necessitating larger wounds,
making the healing slower and often causing irregularities of the skin surface.
A great advantage of using individual follicular units is that the wound size
can be kept to a minimum, while at the same time maximizing the amount of hair
that can be placed into it. Having the flexibility to place up to 4 hairs in a tiny
recipient site has important implications for the design and overall cosmetic
impact of the surgery. This is one major advantage that follicular unit
transplantation has over extensive micrografting. Follicular Unit Transplantation
can minimize or eliminate the “see through” look that is so characteristic of
micrografting.
The main reason for transplanting only individual follicular units is to
duplicate the way hair naturally grows. By mimicking the way hair grows in
nature, the doctor can insure that the transplant will look totally natural. Any
grouping larger than the naturally occurring follicular unit will run the risk of a
pluggy, tufted look.
The Importance of Keeping Recipient Sites Small
Using only follicular units enables the recipient sites to be kept very small.
In fact, in Follicular Unit Transplantation, the sites are so small that they are
made with specialized instruments that are the size of 18-20 gauge needles.
This is about the size that is used in routine blood tests.
The importance of minimizing the wound size in any surgical procedure
cannot be over emphasized. This, of course, includes hair transplantation as
well. The effects of recipient wounding impact many aspects of the surgery.
Larger wounds tend to injure larger blood vessels and although the blood supply
of the scalp is extensive, the damage to these vessels can have a deleterious
impact on blood flow to the tissues.
Especially when transplanting large numbers of grafts per session, it is
important to keep the recipient wounds as small as possible so that growth will
be maximized. The compact follicular unit is the ideal way to permit the use of
the smallest possible recipient site, and has made the transplantation of large
numbers of grafts technically feasible. Another important advantage of the small
wound is a factor that can be referred to as the “snug fit.” A follicular unit graft is
so small that it can always fit into a tiny wound without having to remove tissue.
Unlike the punch, which destroys recipient collagen and elastic tissue, a small
incision, made with a needle, retains the basic elasticity (recoil) of the recipient
site. When a properly fitted graft is inserted, the recipient site will then hold it
snugly in place. This “snug fit” has several advantages. During surgery, it
minimizes popping and the need for the sometimes traumatic re-insertion or repositioning of grafts. After the procedure, it ensures maximum contact of the
graft with the surrounding tissue, so that oxygenation can be quickly reestablished. In addition, by eliminating empty space around the graft,
microscopic clots are minimized and wound healing is facilitated.
It is important to note that when trying to place larger grafts (either round
or linear), into a small site (kept small to minimize tissue injury) compression of
the grafts is an undesirable consequence, and may result in a tufted appearance.
In contrast, when transplanting follicular units, there are no adverse cosmetic
effects of compression, since follicular units are already tightly compacted
structures.
Finally, large wounds cause a host of other cosmetic problems including
dimpling, pigmentary alteration, depression or elevation of the grafts, or a
thinned, atrophic look. The key to a natural appearing hair transplant is to have
the hair emerge from perfectly normal skin. The only way to ensure this is to
keep the recipient wounds small.
How is Follicular Unit Transplantation Different from Mini-Micrografting?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions and it is a very
important one for those deciding which hair restoration procedure to choose. In
contrast to Follicular Unit Transplantation, where the graft sizes are determined
by nature, in mini-micrografting (the combination of minigrafts and micrografts as
defined in Chapter 6) the graft sizes are arbitrarily determined by the doctor who
cuts the donor tissue into the size pieces that he wants. Another name for this
technique is mini-micrografts “cut to size.”
In mini-micrografting, neither preserving follicular units, nor even keeping
hair follicles intact, are felt to be that important. Rather, the speed and
economics of the procedure are the deciding factors. Mini-micrografters use a
multi-bladed knife to quickly generate thin strips of tissue and then use direct
visualization (rather than microscopic control) to cut the tissue. The resulting
grafts are generally larger than follicular units and since the excess skin is not
trimmed away the donor sites (wounds) are also larger.
It should be apparent from the comparison shown on the next page that
Follicular Unit Transplantation is superior in producing a natural, undetectable
result, in maximizing healing, and preserving precious donor hair. Mini-
micrografting, however, requires a smaller staff and each procedure is cheaper
and shorter (although in the end it takes more procedures and therefore may cost
just as much for this technique).
For more detailed information on NHI’s Follicular Unit Transplantation,
please see the reference section in the back of the book. Many of the original
articles can be found on our web site www.newhair.com in the section, NHI
Medical Publications.
The following table summarizes the major differences between Follicular Unit
Transplantation and Mini-Micrografting:
Follicular Unit
Vs
Mini-
Micrografting
Transplantation
THE GRAFTS
Follicular Units used exclusively
Yes
Graft size
Uniformly small
Number of hairs per graft
1-4
Hair/skin ratio in graft
High
Average
Extra skin transplanted
No
Wound size
Uniformly small
Variable
THE TECHNIQUE
Harvesting type
bladed knife
Microscopes required
No
Follicular Units Preserved
Follicular transection
Yes
Maximizes donor supply
THE RESULTS
Healing time
Skin surface change
Yes
Maximum fullness
Undetectable
COST & CONVENIENCE
Staff requirements
Small
Duration of individual procedure
Short
Time for complete restoration
Long
Single-Strip
No
Larger
1-6 (or more)
Yes
Multi-
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Fast
Slower
No
Yes
Yes
Moderate
Long
Short
No
No
Cost per procedure
Less
Total cost for restoration
Similar
More
Similar
Chapter 8
Your Master Plan for Future Hair Loss
Hair restoration is as much an art form as a medical discipline and is best
planned, performed, and completed by the same surgeon or surgeons trained in
using the same techniques. If various surgeons work on the same patient and
different techniques are employed, the results may look more like a patchwork
quilt than a normal head of hair. As with great artists, the best surgeons work
from a Master Plan. They sketch out a plan, project the amount of work needed,
and then implement the plan. In contrast to art, in which the artist has sole
discretion in how the work is created, both the doctor and the patient must
assess the soundness of a Master Plan in a hair restoration process.
If the patient feels the proposed Master Plan is inconsistent with his or her
goals or the course is not consistent with his or her expectations, then the patient
should tell the doctor about his or her concerns. The patient should always feel
comfortable enough to speak his or her mind and expect the doctor to react
responsively. Your doctor should have your best interests in mind, and answer
your questions directly. After the work has been done, it is common for fear and
uncertainty to set in while one waits for the hair to grow in and the final picture to
unfold. It is important for the physician to be supportive and accessible during
this period as well.
Physicians who perform general surgery need little artistic talent to
perform what is, most often, a technical process. In hair transplants, as in other
forms of cosmetic surgery, the work is completely visible. Although the technical
demands of a hair transplant can be substantial, particularly when done in large
numbers, there is no substitute for the skill and experience of the surgeon in
laying out the Master Plan, including creating the hairline, and blending the
various hair characteristics. The artistic ability of the surgeon is best appreciated
by seeing, first hand, the results of his or her work.
The Course of Hair Loss
Most male hair loss is a progressive process in which a person’s full head
of hair inexorably changes to a thinning or receding state and finally to a balding
state. It is common to see the effects of genetic balding in young men start when
they are in their late teens or early 20's. When hair loss occurs early it can be
rapid and quite extensive. More commonly, it is a slow progression, in which the
significant hair loss occurs over a 10-20 year period. The process can start at
any age, possibly even in a person in his 50’s. In the entire male population,
slightly over one-third experience significant balding by the time they reach their
40’s. Fewer than one in eight men become extensively bald (have only a wreath
of hair around the sides and back of the head) by the age of 80.
Genetic hair loss also affects women, but the process rarely leads to the
type of extensive recession or balding frequently seen in men. In genetic hair
loss for either sex, the process accelerates as a person ages and frequently does
so in waves rather than in a continuous fashion. Stress seems to accelerate
short-term loss, but rarely affects the long-term course. There are periods
between the cycles where the hair loss stops for a time (these periods can be
very lengthy in women), but progression is inevitable in all those genetically
predisposed.
Drugs, like minoxidil (Rogaine), may slow the balding process, but are
unsuccessful in completely averting hair loss. Newer medications, such as
finasteride (Propecia) seem to be more successful in preventing further hair loss
on a long-term basis. These drugs may successfully be combined with surgical
hair restoration.
An Individualized Master Plan
Each person is born with a limited supply of hair. Much of the hair around
the side and back of the head may be considered permanent in that it is
genetically programmed to last well into a person’s senior years. This permanent
area of hair, commonly called the "donor area", is where the hair is taken when a
transplant is performed. Hair not located in this region may be susceptible to the
genetic balding process. All surgical hair restoration procedures move hair from
the donor area to areas where the hair is not permanent in genetically affected
people. The permanent hair may be thought of as a "bank" from which
withdrawals are possible, but to which no deposits can be made.
The need for a Master Plan individualized for each patient is critical
because each person has a unique combination of hair density, hair character,
hair color, skin color, balding pattern, age and genetic characteristics. In this
chapter, we will describe the hair loss patterns and hair restoration plans of
several patients with various balding patterns. By studying the specific case
histories, you may gain further insight into your own situation. Although this book
will enable you to gain an understanding of the hair restoration process and the
importance of your Master Plan.
Only an experienced and honest hair restoration physician can customize
your Master Plan to meet your unique needs. Over the past 30+ years, this
industry has not been forthcoming and open in its representations of the results
obtained from the various hair restoration procedures. Much of the lack of
openness still exists. For this reason, the buyer should be wary of dubious
medical claims and patient results that cannot be confirmed.
The Donor Hair Bank
The average Caucasian is born with approximately 100,000 hairs on the
head. Those of Asian and African descent are generally born with lower
densities. If we were to look at the Norwood Class 7 hair loss pattern as the final
stage of hair loss (illustration above), up to 75% of these hairs, or 75,000 will be
lost and 25,000 hairs will remain (permanent hair) in the donor area. A portion of
this permanent hair can be utilized for hair transplantation. A standard rule of
thumb is that, in a person with average hair density, one can deplete the
permanent zone by approximately 50% to 12,500 hairs. Thus, in this Class 7
male, it is generally possible to move some 12,500 hairs or, assuming a normal
distribution of one, two, three and four-hair follicular unit, approximately 5,0006,000 follicular unit grafts can be moved.
If the density in the donor area is high (a person born with 150,000 hairs),
the amount of usable donor hair increases significantly. In a person born with
150,000 hairs and in an advanced stage of balding, the donor areas would
contain 37,000 hairs (instead of 25,000 hairs in the average person). Leaving the
required 12,500 hairs in the donor area means that there are some 25,000 hairs
available for transplant. Note that a 50% increase in hair density results in a
100% increase in available donor hair. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true.
Suppose the patient has 75,000 hairs at birth. This means he will have 20,000
hairs in the donor area leaving only 7,500 hairs for transplant. Thus, a 25%
reduction in hair density results in a 50% reduction in available donor hair.
The other key factor affecting the mathematics of the Master Plan involves scalp
laxity (the flexibility and looseness of the scalp). This measurement is a factor in
determining the size of the donor area that may be safely removed in a single
surgical procedure and will determine the total amount of movable hair long-term.
In a patient with a tight scalp, it may be relatively easy to harvest the
needed grafts in the first procedure. However, in subsequent sessions, the tight
scalp may become a significant limiting factor. Such a patient may eventually be
able to move the needed amount of donor hair, but may require several
procedures to accomplish this goal. More commonly, the total amount of
movable hair is reduced in patients with tight scalps and it is important for the
physician to identify this before the surgery is begun so that a realistic long-term
master plan can be established. Certainly, many patients with tight scalps have
very successful transplants, but the expectations of having full coverage might be
unrealistic.
For a single surgical procedure, more hair can be moved when the scalp
is loose and the density is high. Usually in subsequent procedures, scalp laxity
returns to its original state, but eventually it may tighten to reduce the yield with
subsequent procedures. If the laxity returns to its preoperative state, a similar
area can be moved once again, but the density of the hair in that portion of the
scalp will be less, as the skin will have stretched to accommodate the portion
previously removed.
It is important to take into account both hair density and scalp laxity when
we consider the amount of hair that needs to be moved. A bald scalp in the
average Class 6 patient is about 80 square inches (200 cm2). A maximum of
approximately 12 square inches (30 cm2) may be moved from the donor area at
one time, with 9 square inches (24 cm2) being the amount removed in the
average large case of Follicular Unit Transplantation. If a strip of 9 square inches
will have to cover an area of some 80 square inches, if uniformly spaced, this will
produce a density of approximately 12% of the original hair density. This may
not seem like a lot, but if planned properly, the density achieved in the front part
of the scalp can be significantly increased due to the forward weighting of sites
(making them closer together towards the front) and graft sorting (using larger
naturally occurring follicular units in the forelock area). Aesthetic manipulations
of graft placement, performed by experienced hair restoration surgeons can
make dramatic differences in the outcome of the surgery and enable an entire
restoration to be completed in a limited number of sessions. From an aesthetic
perspective, gains from subsequent procedures produce a less dramatic change,
but they have the ability to significantly increase fullness. Thickening a thin head
of hair is less noticeable than going from a balding to a thinning appearance, but
is very important to getting the maximum benefit from your restoration.
At the other end of the spectrum, in a person with early hair loss (a
Norwood Class 3 for example) who simply wanted to fill in the corners of his
hairline to cover an area of 4 square inches, it would be easy to move a piece of
donor scalp from the permanent zone close to the size of the area to be covered.
The new density of this treated area would be much closer to the original density
than the previous example. The most important issue, however, is to project the
future needs of the patient to make sure that sufficient donor hair remains to
address the evolving balding pattern. Great care must be taken so that excessive
amounts of hair are not removed from the donor area to treat the limited
recession, given the possibility that such a patient may need to reserve his donor
hair to cover evolving hair loss.
The average range of follicular unit grafts used per session at the New
Hair Institute is from 600 (for early balding) to 2,400 (for Class 6 and 7 patients).
The average case performed at the New Hair Institute for all stages of balding (all
Norwood Classes) is around 1,500 follicular unit grafts. Since there is
approximately one follicular unit per mm2 in the scalp, a case of 1,500 follicular
units would require 1,500 mm2 of tissue or 15cm2, providing that none of the
donor hair is wasted. A recent retrospective study at the New Hair Institute,
which reviewed cases performed using “single strip harvesting” and “stereomicroscopic dissection” showed this to be the case. In the average patient, 1
cm2 of donor tissue yielded 100 follicular unit grafts, exhibiting virtually no
wastage.
Some patients express concern about the size of the donor strip that
needs to be harvested from the back of the scalp. In Follicular Unit
Transplantation, a 1,500 graft case would require only a single 1cm wide by 15
cm long strip of donor tissue. This is just slightly larger than the size of a pen.
When considering the donor supply, the most important question for the
patient to ask is "will the technique used to harvest and transplant hair minimize
wastage, so that the maximum degree of fullness may be obtained from a
specific amount of donor hair?” As discussed in Chapter 7, the answer to the
question is that the physician must employ the technique of “single strip
harvesting” when removing the donor tissue followed by “stereo-microscopic
dissection” into individual follicular unit grafts if maximum use of the donor hair
supply is to be achieved.
Aesthetics: The Bottom Line
Restoring your hairline, or increasing the appearance of fullness, is not
purely a reflection of the amount of hair moved, or the number of grafts
transplanted. There is an art in the design of the surgical process that is critical in
producing an aesthetically pleasing result. Some of us are better hair transplant
candidates (more hair, better color, thicker hair shafts, wavier hair); these factors
produce more fullness and better coverage with a smaller quantity of follicular
unit grafts.
It is tempting to try to reduce the Master Plan to a matter of numbers, but
that would be inappropriate. For example, a doctor tells patient that he needs to
move 10,000 hairs in 1,000 grafts in four divided sessions of 250 grafts each.
The patient wants to compare the medical recommendations and prices at
various clinics, but when he visits the clinics, he receives a mind-numbing array
of contradictory information on prices. He hears about short cuts such as scalp
reductions that are represented (falsely) as a way to save hair for future
transplant work.
Once the hair has grown in, the achieved fullness and the detailed
appearance of the hairline will be a reflection of many factors, including the
number of hairs transplanted, the distribution of the transplanted hair, and the
method of styling used after the hair grows in. There is no substitute for a natural
look. After one is comfortable that the physician will efficiently utilize the donor
hair without wastage, the next most important question for the person to ask is
"How natural will the transplant appear throughout the growing phase and how
natural will the hair transplant look after the restoration is complete?”
If the doctor moves 10,000 hairs in 1,000 grafts averaging 10 hairs each in
a checkerboard pattern, the result may appear full, but it will have a "doll's head"
appearance. Grafts of 10 or more hairs each (or any graft containing more hair
groupings than normally found in his head) may take a long time to heal and the
skin often assumes a cobblestone appearance with a white-scarred base. This
type of change is permanent. Even if camouflaged by a hairline of finer, smaller
grafts, the plugs will be visible whenever the hair is wet or anytime careful styling
is not possible. The prospective patient must be careful when he is viewing
advertisement photographs. Photographs often do not show the hairline up close,
without careful styling or when it is wind-blown or wet. If you meet the patient,
you can see what the photograph may not show.
As an alternative to the 1,000 ten-hair grafts, the doctor could transplant
10,000 donor hairs in their naturally occurring follicular units. In a patient with 2.3
hairs per follicular unit, this would translate to 4,300 follicular unit grafts,
averaging 2.3 hairs each. With NHI’s Fast Track® method, this can be
accomplished in two sessions.
Since the graft is small and reproduces the one, two, three and four-hair
groupings that naturally appear in a person’s scalp, the grafts are virtually
undetectable, whether the hair is carefully styled or mussed by wind, water, or
one's significant other. The overall density in the transplanted area may be the
same in both the 10-hair graft example and the two-hair graft example, but in the
case of smaller grafts, the surgeon can carefully place the follicles in a way that
mimics nature, thus allowing a person to groom his hair the way he chooses.
As a hair transplant patient, you must be in control of what happens to
you, especially in the size, the number and the distribution of the transplants. You
should be able to control your hairstyle; that hairstyle may be significant in your
hair transplantation. With small grafts weighted to the front or on the parted side,
styling the hair straight back or combing it from the side produces a layering
effect which makes the hair appear fuller and thicker. Layering is a critical
element in the aesthetics of the hair restoration process, and it becomes
increasingly important as the balding pattern progresses.
It is important to consider other elements related to the aesthetics of
coverage, such as hair type and skin color. For a person with blonde or white hair
and light skin, fewer hairs need to be moved to produce the illusion of fullness
than in a person with black hair and a fair skin. A blonde, wavy haired person can
lose 70% of the hair on the top of the head and not look bald because of the
aesthetics of color, contrast and layering. An “afro” on a person with dark skin will
produce more fullness than an Asian’s black straight hair on light skin. Bleaching
the hair or adding white, gray, silver or blonde streaks can add the appearance of
fullness to those who are thinning. Such color alterations tend to inhibit the eye’s
ability to discriminate the details of the balding or thinning process. The doctor
and patient must design a personalized hair restoration Master Plan that will be
aesthetically pleasing for the patient, throughout his life. All of the following
elements are critical in this process:
•Current balding pattern,
•Projected hair loss,
•Hair density,
•Hair and skin color,
•Thickness of each hair shaft,
•Hair character: straight, wavy, or wiry, and
•Scalp laxity.
To illustrate the complexity of predicting the final appearance, two
examples are presented. Both patients received about 3,500 grafts and had
advanced balding patterns.
Patient A's transplant is weighted to the front and the left side where his
natural part originates (see image on the right). He prefers to keep his hair long,
and it is of average thickness. His hair is groomed carefully and styled to layer
from the part side across the front. When hair can be styled like this, it gives the
best coverage (just like a thatched roof protects a house from rain). By layering
the hair, the light does not pass through the scalp hair easily, so the lower
transplanted density appears more full.
Patient B’s transplant is distributed more uniformly over the scalp. He has
shorter hair that tends to stand up rather than layer from side to side. As the hair
stands up, the light penetrates through the hair to the scalp more easily and
making the lower density more apparent. Patient B prefers to keep his hair short;
it does not exceed one inch at any point. Since his hair is finer and curlier than
Patient A, the amount of hair available to cover the scalp is less. In addition,
Patient B does not take advantage of his curly hair because he chooses to keep
it short.
Setting Realistic Expectations
While each patient’s healing and hair growth profile will dictate the actual
course of the post-operative period, it is important to understand the differences
seen in patients with different hair characteristics. All prospective patients should
view the finished work of people who have had a transplant. No two people are
alike; therefore, two hair loss patterns require a different amount of work, hair
distribution and budget. It is critical that hair transplant candidates make their
own assessment of the process with a physician who works with them to
establish realistic expectations.
Your physician should have appropriate instruments to measure hair
density. The ability to measure the density of a person’s hair, tells us about the
"working material" the surgeon can expect to use in the reconstruction over time.
A house builder would not want to design a house without having enough lumber
to complete the job. The surgeon should address a similar issue, for to put
together a well-designed Master Plan, the surgeon must scientifically estimate
the amount of available donor hair.
The hair population of the normal human scalp in a non-balding individual
is between 60,000 - 200,000 hairs. Each square inch of scalp reflects a density
consistent with the overall population. If one’s hair population is on the lower end
of the scale, the available hair for transplantation is more limited. If one’s hair
population is on the high end of the scale, many possibilities exist. Be wary of
surgeons who run their hands through the donor area, and comment: "you have
lots of hair." Most patients want to believe such statements and this can result in
unrealistic expectations for the results of the transplant. By measuring the supply
of the donor area, both doctor and patient can be confident in a design for hair
replacement that is unlikely to go awry.
The Frontal Hairline
In the majority of patients, establishing the frontal hairline is the most
important function of the first procedure. The frontal hairline should frame the
face and restore a balance to the patient’s facial proportions in a way that is
appropriate for a mature individual. It should not be a low, teenage hairline. The
common practice of creating a high hairline with the intention of lowering it in a
subsequent procedure should be avoided, since each procedure then becomes
as visible as the one before it. In addition, the surgeon doesn’t have the
advantage of using the second procedure to increase the density of the first.
If the intent is to conserve hair in anticipation of a very limited donor
supply, one could still maximize the cosmetic impact of the surgery by creating
more recession at the temples or not extending the transplant as far back
towards the crown. However, the position of the mid-portion of the frontal hairline
(the “forelock” region) should not be compromised, as this defines the look of the
individual. Creating a hairline too high (in the hope of conserving donor hair) only
accentuates the patient’s baldness by enlarging the forehead and distorting the
normal facial proportions.
The practice of placing hair behind an existing hairline was very popular
when plugs were used. Early on, the patient’s existing hair could soften the
appearance of grafts that were too large to stand on their own. However, as the
old hairline recedes, a new procedure in this area would be visible, as the proper
hairline would still have to be established.
When surgery is performed when adequate frontal hairline coverage is still
present, any benefit of increased fullness behind the frontal hairline may be more
than offset by the acceleration of hair loss from the procedure and the risk of
disrupting a hairline that might have persisted for a number of years longer.
Therefore, a patient should be skeptical when a surgeon recommends surgery
with a good frontal hairline already present and with little thinning overall.
To allow for very close placement of the grafts in the frontal hairline, NHI
has developed the skills and techniques that allow for the placement of follicular
unit grafts into very small recipient sites. Close placement of grafts in the frontal
hairline restores the natural transition zone of the frontal hairline in a greater
density than previously possible. The very small grafts also preserve more of the
anatomical integrity of the scalp and blood supply at the recipient sites. Very
close placement of the grafts makes it possible to complete a frontal hairline in
one to two sessions.
Covering the Crown
Crown coverage should not be a goal of the first session unless the donor
hair supply is adequate. Performing crown work can be addressed after the front
and top of the scalp have been adequately transplanted in those with a
questionable or marginal donor supply. Since the front and top of the scalp is a
single cosmetic unit, the transplant may stop after this area has been treated.
The patient can then evaluate the adequacy of coverage from this procedure,
and if he desires more fullness or greater density, a second session can be
performed. If crown coverage is attempted in the first session, the patient’s
options will be much more limited and the ability to produce an aesthetically
balanced transplant might be permanently eliminated.
An exception would be patients who are over the age of 30, have little
apparent risk of becoming extensively bald, and who have good donor density
and scalp laxity. In these individuals, transplanting the crown in the first session
can provide modest coverage to the area and will serve to camouflage a limited
amount of further crown balding. What should be avoided in these patients is the
risky practice of repeatedly transplanting hair into the crown to achieve a high
degree of density, as this density can often not be supported as the balding
progresses.
When Will A Second Session Be Needed?
Working on a scalp that has never received a hair transplant has many
advantages. Grafts can be placed more easily, more securely, and closer
together, since the blood supply and elasticity of the connective tissue are intact.
In the donor area, maximum density and scalp mobility, as well as the absence of
scarring, facilitate a fine closure. To take advantage of these factors, as many of
the patient’s goals should be addressed in the first procedure as possible. Often,
however, a second session is required with the most common goal of increasing
the density of the first.
It is important at the outset to discuss the likelihood, frequency, and cost
of subsequent transplant sessions. As discussed above, a second session may
be more likely in light skinned patients with dark hair, in those patients with fine
hair and in those patients with straight hair (particularly when there is dark
hair/light skin color contrast). In addition, a second procedure may be desirable in
very bald patients with low donor density and/or reduced scalp laxity, as these
factors limit the amount of hair that can be harvested at any one time. In these
situations, anticipating a second surgery in the near future is a critical part of the
initial planning, unless the patient is willing to accept a thinner look. A second
procedure should also be anticipated from the outset in younger patients who are
early in the balding process with an evolving hair loss pattern, when hair loss is
rapid, and in all patients whose balding does not appear to be stable.
A special situation exists when transplanting patients with a persistent
frontal forelock. The density of a forelock is often close to the patient’s original
frontal density, making it impractical to place additional hair into this area.
Although the forelock tends to be very tenacious in some families, it still may
show a slow rate of loss. If lost, a gap would be left in the central portion of the
frontal hairline, making a second procedure necessary.
Goals for the Second Session
The most common reason one plans a second procedure is to enhance
the appearance of fullness. Although follicular units may have been placed as
close as possible in the first session, after healing has occurred, additional units
can usually be added between the first grafts. Another reason for a second
session is to follow the progression of the hair loss. This is often performed in
conjunction with increasing the fullness of the previously transplanted areas.
Usually at the second session, more density is added to the cosmetically critical
front and top of the scalp; the transplant is then extended further back to
compensate for hair loss that has occurred since the first procedure or to add
further areas of coverage, knowing the front and top are secure.
A third goal of the second session is to further refine the hairline. If the
frontal hairline was properly placed in the first procedure, major changes in the
hairline should not be necessary. However, subtle adjustments in the hairline are
often performed during the second session. These refinements include: making
the frontal hairline more dense, increasing the irregularity of the transition zone,
flattening the hairline or blunting the corners, lowering the hairline, establishing a
widow’s peak, or restoring the temples.
The main decision for the second session is whether to transplant the
crown, for once treatment of the area has begun, it can place significant
demands upon the donor supply. Many insightful patients who are significantly
bald realize that crown coverage is not realistic and are satisfied using styling
techniques in conjunction with creatively distributed transplants to maximize
coverage in the lightly or non-transplanted areas. This is especially true in older
patients. On the other hand, a substantial number of people are very bothered by
their bald crown; these patients may be devastated when hair loss occurs in the
front. For most, crown balding is much less important when compared to the
prospect of losing frontal hair, the entire frame of the face. Crown balding or
thinning is also likely to become more acceptable as the patient ages (as will his
hair loss overall). The physician then must be able to assist the patient in setting
priorities that will be appropriate over the long term.
If extensive balding is likely and there is only a modest donor supply, it is
usually best to treat the crown as an extension of the top, rather than as an
isolated region, to ensure that the patient will not be short of donor hair. This is
the reason that the treatment of the crown in a young patient should be delayed.
By the second session, the surgeon is often able to assess if there is enough
coverage of the front and top to attempt the crown. It is important to emphasize
that when crown coverage is considered in the second session, the transplanted
hair in the front and top has already been allowed to grow, so that its cosmetic
impact can be assessed. The patient can thus make his own aesthetic judgments
regarding whether to add additional hair to this area before transplantation of the
crown is begun.
The issue of crown coverage is important because it is the least visible of
the balding regions, and it has a very large surface area, producing an almost
inexhaustible demand upon the donor supply. The predominantly front-to-back
progression of genetic balding allows the transplanted hair to conceal hair loss
behind it. More important, it is common to see a person with frontal hair and a
bald area in back. Therefore, as balding continues after a transplant in the frontal
area, a natural look is maintained. In contrast, the crown expands from the center
outward, so that as crown balding progresses, the initially transplanted hair may
become a cosmetic liability rather than an asset. This is because with further hair
loss, transplantation must be continued or there will be an isolated island of hair
surrounded by a moat of bald skin. In addition, the density of the normal crown
increases as one moves away from the center. Thus, whatever is transplanted
outward must have at least the density of the part more central to it, whereas the
initial transplant of frontal hair can be followed on subsequent sessions by
placing less density behind it (or not treated again). The expanding crown will
always require a subsequent session of at least the same or increasing density.
One way to circumvent this problem is to place “tacking hair” in the crown.
These are single follicular unit grafts that function to hold down hair from the top
of the scalp combed back over it, but is thin enough to not to place significant
demands on the donor supply or to look unnatural if the crown expands. This
technique is particularly useful in patients undergoing repair work or those with a
very limited donor supply.
An important alternative to the treatment of the crown is to stop the
transplant at the “vertex transition point” (the part of the scalp just in front of the
swirl) and have the patient groom his hair over the non-transplanted area. This is
recommended for most patients when direct crown coverage is not realistic, or
when it is too early in the balding process to determine whether significant crown
coverage will be possible in the future.
Chapter 9
How Many Grafts Will I Need?
One of the most frequent questions asked by potential hair transplant
patients is: “how many grafts will I need?” The answer should:
• Take realistic expectations into consideration
• Reflect the patient’s degree of hair loss, donor supply, and hair
characteristics
• Be consistent with a long-term Master Plan to address future hair loss
• Address the number of potential procedures and time commitment
required
• Consider the short and total long-term cost for the patient
An individual’s goals must be realistic. For example, if a person has
significant balding (i.e., a Norwood Class 6 or 7 pattern) and fine hair, then he
should not expect a full head of transplanted hair. If he does, dissatisfaction will
be inevitable. With at least 65-75% of hair lost (the typical loss in Class 6 and 7
patients), a thin head of hair is a realistic and achievable goal. Although a thin
head of hair can dramatically improve patient’s appearance, if he were to
attempt to achieve his original density, he would run out of donor hair before the
process could be completed and an unnatural appearance would result.
Working within reasonable expectations, the total number of grafts
required for any one patient will depend upon hair and skin color, donor density,
scalp laxity the thickness of each hair shaft, the number of hairs in each graft,
and the character of the hair itself. The physician must consider these factors
and the expectations of the patient in order to calculate the amount of work
required. Even when these considerations are combined with the expectations of
the patient, the amount of work required to make a person satisfied is sometimes
difficult to predict.
Naiveté of the physician, even in those who specialize in hair
transplantation, seems to be more common than many care to admit. The failure
of the physician to establish realistic expectations often leads to an unhappy
patient. This can only be prevented by providing a clear explanation of the hair
restoration process, and specifically defining the benefits that the patient may
expect to achieve.
Hair Color and Skin Color Contrast
Hair color and its contrast to skin color is one of the most significant
factors that dictate the amount of work required for hair restoration. The lower the
contrast, the fewer grafts are required. Blonde hair against fair skin and dark hair
against dark skin are two examples of hair combinations that produce excellent
results with less work on the part of the physician (and less cost for the patient).
Dark hair against pale skin often requires the most hair in the restoration
process. Of course, a patient can simply lighten his hair to make the restoration
look more full. One of the (few) benefits of aging is that it will accomplish
reduced contrast between hair and skin all by itself.
Hair Character
Hair character is the second most important factor in determining the
amount of hair restoration work needed. Curly or wavy hair produces a full
appearance more easily than straight hair. African American hair in particular
curls so that a single hair shaft covers more scalp with less hair length than
straight hair. Strong, naturally curly hair that holds its shape tends to produce
fuller results more easily than thin straight hair that falls flat against the scalp.
Hair Bulk
Hair bulk, or hair shaft diameter, contributes greatly to the visual impact of
hair. Coarse hair has greater bulk and requires fewer hair follicles per square
inch than fine hair to produce the same effect. Coarse hair usually grows
naturally in smaller groups (follicular units) than fine hair and should be
transplanted that way for the most natural results.
Hair Density
In the majority of patients who are candidates for a hair transplant, hair
density (the number of hairs per cm2) varies from about 150 hairs/cm2 to over
300 hairs/cm2, with the average of about 200 hair/cm2. However, as previously
mentioned, hair in the human scalp does not grow as single hairs, but in groups
of 1-4 hairs. Interestingly, these naturally occurring groups (called follicular units
(FU)) have a relatively constant density in the scalp of 100 FU/cm2. This means
that the average follicular unit will contain from 2.0 hairs. Those patients who
average 1.5 hairs per follicular unit will have a naturally thin appearance and
therefore a thinner appearing transplant. Those patients who average 3.0 hairs
per follicular unit (300/hairs per cm2) will have a fuller looking transplant.
How Many Grafts Will Make Me Happy?
When patients ask how many grafts it will take to make them happy, what
they are really saying is, “give me back what I lost and I’ll be happy.” When this
is the case, what the bald man really wants is unrealistic; therefore, one must
address how much work needs to be done to make the patient satisfied.
Satisfaction should be addressed in relative terms to make this problem
understandable.
A man who is accustomed to his balding will be easier to please, and will
accept a less full appearance than a young man who is starting to lose his hair
and who remembers the days when he looked in the mirror and saw the vibrant,
full hair of a teenager. The young patient wants his adolescent hairline and
density back and will often be satisfied with nothing less. Since surgery is
permanent, the hair-restoring surgeon must plan a hairline that will be
appropriate for the patient’s entire life and he must transplant a density that is
consistent with long-term donor reserves. Because of these factors, some young
patients are not good candidates for surgery.
The older patient with significant hair loss, on the other hand, will often be
ecstatic with his mature hairline restored and a modest amount of natural-looking
hair covering his head for the first time in years. For the majority of patients
between these two extremes, the physician’s careful guidance will help the
patient understand what goals can realistically be achieved and whether hair
restoration will be worthwhile.
With an understanding of human nature, hair dynamics, and practical
issues, NHI has concluded that it is not always wise to recommend a specific
number of grafts as though this number is an absolute amount. Instead, NHI
often recommends transplant sessions of the greatest number of grafts that can
be reasonably and safely moved within the confines of four important constraints
listed below.
1. The patient’s goals;
2. The projected pattern of hair loss in a worst-case scenario, as determined by
heredity, age and physical examination;
3. The amount of hair in the permanent zone (donor area) that can be safely
transplanted (this is related to a number of physical factors including donor
density and scalp laxi-ty and should be assessed by the doctor at the time of
consultation); and
4. Economic and time constraints of the patient.
NHI's Goal and Your Goal
Our goal is to help the patient understand how close he or she can come
to meeting personal needs and expectations, how much the hair restoration will
cost, and how many sessions it is likely to require. Do not start the hair
restoration process unless you understand what it will take to finish it. With
proper planning, satisfaction is easy to achieve.
Keep in mind that the transplantable hair numbers generally reflect an
average amount of total hair that can be moved and applied to one’s hair loss.
This movable hair can be transplanted in one or multiple sessions depending on
the four factors above and your doctor’s skill and experience. For example, if
procedures are limited to only 100 grafts each, then patients will be committed to
an extended number of surgical sessions. Possibly not obvious at the onset,
such extended treatment sessions often end with the patient losing interest.
Financial or personal reasons may also cause the patient to fail to complete the
treatment course. Just as important, multiple, small procedures move hair
inefficiently and waste precious donor supply.
As discussed in Chapter 8, the impact of the transplant depends both
upon the distribution of grafts as the absolute number used. Nonetheless, it is
still useful for the patient anticipating surgery to have a general idea of the
numbers required, both for the initial procedure and for subsequent sessions.
What NHI Recommends
Although there is significant variation from person to person, the average
number of follicular units that we generally transplant in the first session for
specific Norwood classifications is listed below. We first presented these
numbers in our landmark 1995 publication “Follicular Transplantation.” The
recommend numbers have changed little over the years, except that with the
implementation of stereomicroscopic dissection, we rarely need to transplant
more than 2400 grafts in a single session. All "units" or "grafts” in this discussion
refer to follicular units, not minigrafts or micrografts.
First Follicular Unit Transplantation Session
Norwood Class
3
3 Vertex
3A
4
4A
5
Follicular Units
800-1000+
800-1000+
1300-1600+
1100-1400+
1700-2100+
1500-1800+
Total Units With Crown
--1100-1300+
--1500-1800+
--1900-2400+
5A
6
7
2000-2400+
2000-2400+
2000-2400+
--2400+
---
In general, the higher the donor density, the greater the number of hairs
each follicular unit will contain. With low donor density, little scalp laxity or poor
hair characteristics, these targets may not be achievable.
We generally do not recommend hair restoration surgery for Class 3
patients unless the hair loss is cosmetically very bothersome, the hair loss
pattern seems stable, and the patient has excellent donor reserves. Often these
patients have special circumstances, such as career demands, which require
transplantation at an early stage. Medications are the best initial treatment,
especially with early Class 3 patients.
The number of grafts required to complete the hair transplant process for
a given Norwood Class may vary significantly from individual to individual.
Nevertheless, it is helpful for someone anticipating surgery to have an idea of the
number of follicular units that a typical individual would need for a complete
restoration, both with and without crown coverage. (This data was published in
Follicular Transplantation: Patient Evaluation and Surgical Planning.
Dermatologic Surgery 1997.)
Total Number of Follicular Units Suggested for a Complete Restoration
Norwood Class
3
3 Vertex
3A
4
4A
5
5A
6
7
Follicular Units
900-1500
900-1500
1400-2200
1200-2000
1800-3600
1700-3000
2000-4400
2200-4600
2200-4800
Total Units With Crown
--1300-2000
--1700-3000
--2100-4000
--3000-5600
4000-6600
A satisfactory restoration does not necessarily mean that complete
coverage of the entire bald area has been achieved. Finite donor supplies often
limit what can be accomplished, regardless of the hopes of the patient or the
abilities of the surgeon. The specific attributes of the patient’s hair and the
nature of the patient’s expectations will both influence the patient’s satisfaction
with his final results. With an aesthetically planned transplant, many patients can
achieve satisfaction with a smaller number of grafts than the above tables
suggest. However, for those patients with less than optimal hair characteristics
or those with higher expectations, the numbers may be greater.
Chapter 10
A Hair Transplant at NHI
When you arrive for your hair transplant, the NHI staff will begin by
reviewing the surgical process with you. Your NHI physician will review the goals
that had been established in prior consultations and will answer any last minute
questions. The doctor will take the time to be sure that there are no outstanding
issues, areas of confusion or concerns. The surgical consent forms (copies of
these forms will be sent to you when you schedule your surgery) will be reviewed
and signed, and pre-surgical photographs will be taken.
Length of the Procedure
Your Follicular Unit Transplant may require many hours of work by a team
of professionals. Some of the longest procedures (between 2000-2500+ grafts)
may take hours of surgery. During that time, your surgeon and several highly
trained technicians and/or nurses will participate in the process. The work must
be organized efficiently so that the total length of the procedure for the patient is
minimized. On average, a procedure of 1500 grafts would last about 6 hours.
The Surgical Experience
The procedure may be long, but for the patient the time goes by quickly.
You will be given a mild sedative so that you may sleep if desired, or may choose
to remain fully awake. Most patients watch television or movies or listen to
music for at least part of the time. We try to make your experience enjoyable so
that the actual time the surgery takes seems negligible. A relaxed and informal
atmosphere is encouraged so that the day goes by quickly and is a pleasurable
experience. The patient takes a series of breaks, to the bathroom, to eat lunch,
or to just stretch and move around. Patients often tell us that the experience of
being the focus of the day’s activities is wonderful.
Anesthesia
After the mild sedative is given orally, you will receive a small series of
injections of local anesthetic in the perimeter of the scalp. Any discomfort usually
only occurs in the beginning of the anesthetic administration. The actual hair
transplant procedure is painless. We also give routine antibiotics during the
procedure (but not afterwards).
We use a combination of lidocaine (Xylocaine), which you have probably been
given at your dentist, and a longer-acting local anesthetic called Marcaine.
Injections around the perimeter of the scalp (called a ring block) will numb the
entire scalp, and although this is uncomfortable, a little handholding will get you
through it just fine. Most of our offices also offer patients nitrous oxide to patients
during this time, and it can be of significant help. With this technique, there is no
need to apply anesthesia directly into the area that is being transplanted. Once
anesthetization is complete, there is generally no pain or discomfort during the
remainder of the procedure. If you do require more anesthesia, it will be
administered before the first wears off.
We do not perform these operations under general anesthesia (with the
patient asleep), as this increases the risks involved in the procedure and is
unnecessary. One special note: you will not be permitted to drive yourself home
after the procedure, so please arrange to have a family member or friend pick
you up.
The Surgical Team
The hair transplant procedure can be long. After the removal of the donor
strip, the surgical team must work non-stop to dissect the individual hair grafts
from the donor strip.
NHI boasts what we consider the most highly skilled
of surgical teams in performing microscopically controlled Follicular Unit
Transplantation. The team must prepare the grafts according to the surgeon’s
exact specifications. The preparation and placement of 2,000 or more grafts may
take a surgical team hours of intensive, concentrated work. Care must be taken
to keep the surgical team free of stress. Just as the patient needs a break, so do
team members. At NHI, we focus on the needs of our staff as well as the patient
to ensure that the staff is always at peak performance.
Donor Scalp
The location of the donor strip is carefully selected by your doctor. The
hair in this area is clipped short, to a length of approximately 1-mm. This step
must be performed with precision. If done properly, the uncut hair will completely
cover the donor area when the patient leaves the office.
After the strip of donor scalp is removed, it is temporarily placed into a container
with chilled Lactated Ringer’s, a solution that closely mimics the body’s own
natural fluids. The area where the donor strip was removed is sutured closed.
This usually leaves a fine scar that heals in a week or two, with the sutures either
self-dissolving (the usual case), or being removed. Ideally, the scar will heal well
enough to be almost undetectable even when the hair is combed back by a
barber or hairdresser.
After the tissue has been harvested, the individual follicular units are
meticulously dissected out in their naturally occurring groups, under strict
stereomicroscopic control. The grafts are trimmed of extraneous fatty tissue and
the hairless intervening skin between the groups is discarded.
The isolation of individual, naturally occurring follicular units and their
careful dissection under microscopic control, is an essential part of Follicular Unit
Transplantation. If these steps are not performed correctly, the follicles can be
injured and their growth impaired. It is important that an experienced surgical
team carry out these steps.
Bleeding
Many people have the impression that hair transplantation is a “bloody
procedure.” In our hands, it is not. In addition to using very tiny recipient sites,
we have developed surgical techniques that greatly minimize the amount of
bleeding in all aspects of the procedure. We take many precautions to protect
ourselves from all blood-born agents; our patients and staff are routinely tested
for HIV and hepatitis for everyone’s protection and safety.
The Surgical Suite
Our surgical team wears masks, surgical gloves, and gowns and only
uses instruments that are disposable or sterile. The procedure is performed
while you sit in a comfortable, adjustable reclining chair. The surgical rooms are
equipped with music, TV, and an assortment of movies.
After the anesthesia is administered, you should feel nothing other than
pressure sensations. Many patients have long, friendly conversations with the
doctor and assistants during the time it takes to complete the transplant.
Occasionally, a patient will speak to friends or conduct business transactions
during the surgery on their cell phones. Of course, we would prefer you to take
the day off and relax.
The atmosphere in the treatment area makes the patient feel secure and
relaxed. Concern and compassion on the part of the doctor and medical staff
make a tremendous difference. We all work to make sure that your experience is
a pleasant one.
We are proud that New Hair Institute Medical Group, a Professional
Corporation (NHI) has been awarded the certificate of accreditation by the
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. The award means that
NHI has met nationally recognized standards for quality health care set by the
Chicago-based accrediting organization. NHI is the first and only hair transplant
clinic in the United States to receive accreditation.
Making the Recipient Sites
The methods used to create recipient sites for the grafts can add a great
deal to the aesthetic look of your transplant. These methods will determine the
angle at which the new hair grows as well as distribution and density. Creating
recipient sites is a very important part of the procedure, and requires
considerable artistic knowledge and surgical skill. It may be the one part of the
procedure where your NHI physician is silent as he concentrates on making
these sites. Don’t be concerned if he isn’t chatty during this time.
Your NHI physician is accustomed to working in and around existing hair,
so you need not cut your hair short for the procedure. Your existing hair may
help to cover any traces of the transplant.
Placement of New Grafts
The placing of the grafts is the longest and most exacting part of the
procedure. During this time, you will be asked to keep your head relatively still.
Watching TV, movies or even sleeping will help make the time go quickly. You
can takes breaks as needed to eat and use the bathroom.
When placing is complete, photos are taken and post-op instructions are
given to you verbally and in writing. A bandage that looks like a tennis headband
is placed around your head, and a baseball cap is worn home. No bandages are
required on the transplanted area.
After Your Procedure
The night of the surgery and for a few nights afterwards, you are
encouraged to sleep with your head elevated on pillows. You will be given
medication to help you sleep if needed. The morning after surgery, you can
remove the tennis band and take a shower, gently cleaning the transplanted area
with a special shampoo. The follicular unit grafts are made to fit snugly into the
recipient sites and will not be dislodged in the shower, if you follow the
instructions given to you. After your first shower, no further bandages are
required.
If the post-operative instructions are followed carefully, the transplant will
be minimally detectable after a few days, and practically undetectable after the
first week for most patients. We will give you medication for swelling, but in spite
of this, some patients experience swelling of the forehead that settles around the
bridge of the nose over the course of the next several days. If this occurs, it is
usually gone within a week and should not be a cause for concern.
Frequently, the newly transplanted grafts can be made less noticeable by
minor changes in hairstyle and a little bit of hair spray (using the surrounding hair
if it is present) to cover the area. Foundation can be used to cover any redness
that lasts more than a week. Makeup consultants in large drug stores and
department stores can help you choose the appropriate shade and type of
makeup. Problems of visibility can also be minimized by altering the appearance
of your face. If you do not shave for a while, most people will focus upon your
new beard, not on your head. If you have a mustache or a beard, consider
shaving it off for the first few weeks and then letting it grow back.
We will call you the morning after your procedure to answer questions and
to see if there is anything that you need. You will be given a follow-up
appointment approximately two weeks after your procedure. For patients who
live far from the office, follow-ups may be handled by phone.
Chapter 11
What to Expect Following Surgery
After your hair transplant procedure, you will be given written instructions
that explain in detail how to care for your scalp until your return visit.
Prescriptions for medications may be given at that time (or before the procedure).
Most doctors give their patients an analgesic such as Tylenol with codeine.
Antibiotics may be prescribed to prevent infection. Some doctors give
medication to prevent swelling, although these have limited value. Tranquilizers
and sleeping medications are prescribed to help the patient over the first few
days of healing.
Immediately following surgery, your grafts are held in place by fibrin (the
body’s natural glue) produced by a chemical reaction in serum when the graft
sites are made. The grafts are loosely held in place for the first 2-3 days and
become fully secure at about the eighth day. The hairs that are present in your
new grafts usually fall out during the first 2-6 weeks after the procedure (see
Growth of New Hair section below). At this time, the patient will usually look just
like he did before the transplant. Follicular Unit Transplantation is a relatively
minor surgical procedure; most people recover in several days, and many return
to work right away. Some discomfort generally exists in the donor site for a few
days after the surgery. The discomfort is best managed beyond the first day in
most people with Tylenol (with or without codeine). Athletic activities should be
restricted for 1-2 weeks. Some limited restrictions apply in the second week.
Although we caution patients not to put undue stress on the donor area for
several months, normal activity may be resumed 1-2 weeks after the procedure.
There are several different approaches to post-surgical treatment. The
patient may leave with no bandage after the surgery or he may be given a small
sweatband to keep pressure on the donor area. The recipient area is left open or
lightly covered. This enables the transplanted area to be exposed to the air for
drying and healing.
Patients often worry about the potential visibility of their new grafts. Scabs
that tend to form on the scalp surface should be washed off as they accumulate
for the first few days following the surgery. With the very small sites used in
Follicular Unit Transplantation, no new crusts will form after the second day.
Other than the stubble of transplanted hair and some faint redness, the
transplant should not be visible after the first week.
For those individuals who wash their transplanted grafts well, the full
extent of the transplant looks and feels (in the days following the procedure) just
like a five o’clock shadow. Swelling of the forehead is present in 25% of people
between the third and fifth day, but rarely lasts more than one day. Rarely,
swelling of the eyelids occurs.
Sutures
After three years of research, the physicians of the New Hair Institute have
switched to a totally absorbable suture for most of our hair transplant procedures.
The results of this study, recently published in Dermatologic Surgery concluded
“Poliglecaprone 25 (Monocryl) is a very strong synthetic, absorbable,
monofilament suture with low tissue reactivity that can be used in hair
transplantation to close the donor wound with a single, running cutaneous stitch.
If specific surgical techniques are followed, suturing with Monocryl can produce a
fine surgical scar superior to metal staples and can result in a more comfortable
post-operative experience for the patient.”
We are pleased to offer this new suture to our patients. Besides the
convenience of not needing to have the suture removed, it is skin colored and is
literally invisible, even with the hair relatively short. We still encourage our
patients to come by for their 1-week follow-up visit if they live close by, but suture
removal is no longer a hassle.
Growth of New Hair
Growth of new hair appears to be rapid in the first 1-3 weeks, but this
usually represents the beginning of the shedding of the hair shafts, which is
common as the hair follicles go into a "dormant phase." This phase reflects the
shock to the grafts from the transplant process. When the dormant phase occurs,
it usually lasts 3-6 months from the time of the transplant before the new hair
growth becomes evident. The dormant phase has lasted as long as eight months
or longer in a small number of patients. It is during this period that the greatest
anxiety occurs. The patient wonders if the hair will ever grow and if the decision
to undergo the procedure was a smart one.
In most people, hair growth usually starts within 3-4 months. Growth
occurs in cycles, each cycle starting a few days or weeks from the previous
cycle. When the hair initially starts growing, the thickness of the shaft is often
smaller than normal. This changes as the hair reaches a length of about 1/2 inch.
A slow growth process is preferential for most men, because the hair growth is
less noticeable. The return of hair reflects a reversal of the balding process,
rarely noticed by friends or family as anything out of the ordinary. By 8 months,
most people can see the effect of the process, and by 12 months, the growth and
bulk will have reached 90% of its total growth. Hair can continue to mature as
long as 24 or more months following the transplant procedure. For this reason,
patients should not expect to see the preponderance of benefits from the hair
transplant process for at least 12 months.
Wound healing is relatively fast. The surgical wound in the donor area usually
heals within 1-2 weeks, although it may take many months to regain its full
strength. In about half of the patients, the transplants on the top and crown of the
head are barely visible within the first week. The existing hair can easily hide the
donor incision. Those with more persistent redness in the recipient area often
have a fair complexion or red hair.
Patients often express doubt or skepticism about the rapidity of the
healing process with Follicular Unit Transplantation. Such doubts are most
evident in those individuals who received traditional hair transplants because
they remember the ugly, obvious wounds on their heads and the impact on their
lives after their procedures. For those individuals in particular, it is critical to see
and speak with a patient who is one or two weeks post-surgery. Most are more
than willing to show prospective patients the results of their work at this early
stage.
Delayed or Reduced Growth
As growth cycles vary widely, some patients may experience significantly
delayed growth. This can produce substantial anxiety for these patients. Causes
for delayed growth have theoretical explanations (published in the literature as Hor X- factors), however this phenomenon is not well understood and is,
fortunately, uncommon. We have seen significant growth between 12-24 months
following a hair transplant in a few patients who presented with delayed growth.
In the rare case of reduced growth, additional work may be necessary.
Post-Op Course in Patients Undergoing Follicular Unit Transplantation
The following chart shows the anticipated course for the average patient
undergoing Follicular Unit Transplantation, regardless of the size of the session.
This chart is intended to serve as a general guide. It is normal for there to be
significant variation between patients and even between sessions in the same
patient. Therefore, if you do not follow the course exactly as outlined, do not be
concerned.
TIME POST-OP
AREA
Next Day
TRANSPLANTED AREA
Hair is washed thoroughly.
Grafts should be clean of
DONOR (Sutured)
Some soreness, tightness
and numbness.
blood.
2-3 Days
1 Week
Scabbing is largely gone.
Soreness begins to disapModerate redness may be
pear. Some numbness may
present. Some selling may continue.
appear on forehead.
Redness is minimal to absent. Soreness generally gone
Swelling is usually gone.
Occasionally some numb1st Post-op Visit.
ness persists.
2 Weeks
Looks and feels like a 4-day Sutures begin to absorb.
-old beard.
Discomfort is gone.
Numbness is uncommon.
2-8 Weeks
Transplanted hair is shed as Knots at the ends of the abthe follicles enter a dormant sorbable sutures fall off.
phase.
2-4 Months
Some original hair may be Numbness in the in donor
shed in the transplanted area. area is usually gone.
3-6 Months
Transplanted hair first begins
to grow as very fine hair.
5-10 Months
8 Months
Some or all of the original hair
that was shed begins to grow.
Hair is groom-able, but trans
plant appears thin as hair continues to
grow and thicken.
Slight changes in the texture of
the new hair is occasionally
present.
8-12 Months Patient is evaluated for a possible second procedure.
12 Months
90% of the final appearance
of procedure is usually present.
1-2 Years
There may be additional fullness during the second year.
Any change in texture of hair
usually returns to normal.
Chapter 12
Other Surgical Hair Restoration Procedures
This chapter addresses various surgical methods of replacing hair that are
still performed, but quickly losing acceptance as viable treatments for most cases
of androgenetic alopecia. For the majority of these procedures, the risks to the
patient outweigh any potential benefits.
Occipito-Temporal, Juri, and Other Flaps
"Flap" is the medical term for a piece of skin (in this case on the scalp)
that has been cut away from surrounding tissue on three sides. This peninsula of
skin remains attached on the fourth side. This side provides the blood supply for
the entire flap. Flaps are used to move one piece of skin, such as one that is
hair bearing, to a nearby area of the scalp that is bald.
One advantage of flaps over "free" skin grafts is that they carry their blood supply
with them. Free skin grafts have to develop a blood supply in the area where
they are placed. Complex organs, like hair follicles, which might die before they
can develop a blood supply, are at less risk when the flap technique of surgery is
used. A flap is also one of the few ways that long hair can be redistributed
without clipping the donor hairs short.
Designing a scalp flap requires isolating a long artery and the hair-bearing
skin that the artery directly supplies. Two long, parallel incisions are made and
joined at one end. A strip of skin about 2.5 cm wide is isolated from the
surrounding skin except for the attachment at its base (the end of the flap
through which the artery enters). After this, the attachments between this strip of
skin and the underlying tissue are divided. A recipient site is prepared in the
intended area by making an incision and removing the overlying skin. The free
end of the flap is then transferred from its original location to the new one.
Sewing the skin edges together closes the residual opening in the donor area.
Some flap procedures use two flaps, one from each side of the head. Other
procedures use a single, long flap from one side and the back of the head.
Flap procedures are major surgery that must be performed in a hospitallevel operating room. Some doctors do the operation in two stages. First, they
delay the flap by making the peripheral incisions for it, but leaving the flap in
place to stimulate the development of an independent arterial blood supply. This
creates a barrier of scar surrounding the flap on three sides. The area becomes
wholly dependent upon its base artery for its entire blood supply.
Flaps have both advantages and disadvantages. Only physicians who
have extensive experience with flaps do these procedures. Patients who are
considering flap surgery must be fully informed about the potential complications
of the operation and the degree of risks that they take if they choose this option.
Advantages: Speed
A flap offers the quickest potential method of putting long, dense hair into
a frontal bald area.
Disadvantages: Necrosis
The worst possible complication of flap creation is necrosis, the medical
term for tissue death. In one study by an experienced plastic surgeon, more than
one-third of the flaps sustained some degree of necrosis. The surgeon said that
because of the frequency of this problem he would not perform flap surgery any
longer. When a flap dies, it leaves a wide, ugly scar in the frontal hairline area of
the scalp. This is very difficult to conceal with corrective procedures.
Disadvantages: Infection
A possible serious complication of flap surgery is infection, which can
cause flap necrosis or permanent hair loss. Areas where the blood supply is
temporarily or permanently reduced, such as with a flap procedure, make a rich
environment for bacteria to invade and grow.
Disadvantages: Hair Loss in the Donor Area
Healthy hair can be lost in the donor area due to infection, trauma or
technically poor closure of the surgical wound. Hair lost in this manner leaves a
wide, permanent, and unsightly scar in the temple area. Such scars are difficult
to hide.
Disadvantages: Quality and Direction of Hair Growth
Most flap procedures involve a reversal of scalp position. This means that
the hair is forced to grow in the reverse direction of the normal pattern. The
reversal of direction gives a distinctly abnormal appearance to one’s hair.
In an effort to improve the appearance of a flap, some doctors remove part of the
hair from the leading edge of the flap. Other doctors place small grafts of fine hair
directly in front of the flap. These techniques attempt to create a zone of finer hair
oriented in the proper direction with the goals of hiding the straight line of scar
that is often visible in front of the flap and making the flap appear more natural.
Disadvantages: Broad Frontal Hairline
Because the flap is rotated from the side of the scalp to the front, it creates
a broad hairline. It is practically impossible for the surgeon using a flap, to create
the soft, tapered look and natural temporal recession that is characteristic of a
normal male hairline.
Disadvantages: Too Much Density in One Area
A flap transfers the full density of the donor area to the frontal hairline. In
fact, due to tissue contraction, the flap may even exceed the density of the area
from where it originated. As one ages, the frontal hairline normally thins slightly,
even in someone who is not balding, so the excessive density of the flap will
never look natural. In fact, it will worsen over time as the surrounding area
begins to thin. In addition, the flap uses up so much donor hair that there is little
left to adequately cover other areas of the scalp.
Disadvantages: Absence of Hair Behind the Flap
Because the flap can only cover a limited area, the scalp behind the flap
remains bald. This area may not be too visible in patients with dense hair, but
patients who have sparse hair, or who have highly contrasting hair and skin
color, often have difficulty hiding the expanse of bare scalp. Some patients,
whose temple hair thins as they age, also have problems with visibility of the bald
part of the scalp. These patients typically become extremely self-conscious about
their appearance.
There have been cases where men were so desperate that they had the
bare scalp tattooed to conceal the baldness. As the tattoo ages, the color fades
and the scalp assumes a blue or green color. This results in an undeniably
strange appearance. Transplanting hair into this area can improve its general
appearance, but the effects of the flap procedure often decrease the number of
available grafts and thus can make corrective “repair” work difficult.
Disadvantages: Excessive Brow
An excessive brow can occur when loose forehead skin over the eyebrows
is pushed down and forward, a movement caused by the flap when it is
transposed to the forehead. The patient develops jutting, overhanging eyebrows
that give a weird, Neanderthal appearance to the face. This can be corrected by
a brow lift operation in which the excess, loose skin in front of the flap is excised.
However, proper planning of the procedure by knowledgeable surgeon should
prevent this problem.
Disadvantages: Malposition of the Flaps
If the flaps are incorrectly placed on one’s head, the patient’s appearance
is truly bizarre.
Square Grafts
Grafts derived from a linear strip of donor hair can be used as line grafts
described below, or can be divided into smaller grafts that are irregular, square,
or rectangular. A square graft theoretically contains a few more hairs than a
round graft of similar size. A square graft fits into a round or slit site because the
graft assumes the shape of the recipient site.
Some surgeons use a square punch to make recipient sites. Proponents
of this method point out that, on paper, square shapes can be placed closer
together than round ones can. Square shapes do not leave small spaces
between them like round ones do. However, because of their square shape, the
punches can only be made in large sizes while round punches can be made as
small as 1 mm in diameter.
Another problem with square recipient sites concerns the problem of blood
supply. A circle is the best shape for allowing the most nutrition to reach the
center of the graft. Square grafts have a tendency to become rounded with time
and the doughnutting effect from an inadequate blood supply is more
pronounced.
Line Grafts
Some physicians do a procedure in which a 3-4 mm wide linear strip of
donor hair is removed, but instead of dividing the strip into miniature grafts, the
entire strip (or portions of it) is transplanted into a trench in the recipient area.
The line graft procedure presents several problems. First, the equivalent of
doughnutting in round grafts increases with line grafts. Second, as the hair in a
line graft grows, it appears to be just that: a thin, linear band of hair growing in a
straight line that looks extremely unnatural.
Scalp Reductions
In 1978, two Canadian physician brothers named Blanchard reported a
new technique for dealing with baldness in the crown area of the scalp. They
excised the bald portion of the scalp and sewed the edges of skin together. The
procedure, the “scalp reduction,” caught on quickly because at least initially, it
seemed to quickly eliminate most of the bald crown. It was also good for the
surgeon's practice since the procedure was quick and relatively inexpensive, but
locked the patient into further procedures down the line.
Since the original report, several doctors have developed and expanded
upon the idea. Several different names have been attached to the procedure:
Alopecia Reduction, Galeoplasty, and Male Pattern Reduction (MPR). Once
again, the attachment of such names adds unnecessary confusion to the field.
We will continue to use the term "scalp reduction" throughout this book.
The procedure entails a minor operation that can be performed in a
doctor’s office under local anesthesia. The risk of short-term complications is
small. The amount of bald scalp that can safely be removed varies greatly from
one patient to another, as there are inborn differences in skin and tissue elasticity
from one person to another. The natural degree of elasticity of the scalp is
graded on a five-point scale. The system is very subjective, and even an
experienced doctor can be wrong occasionally.
From the patient’s standpoint, the most obvious difference among the
many types of scalp reduction is the pattern of the area that is excised. This
determines the final shape of the scar. The most common patterns that
physicians use are the vertical ellipse and the triangular shape. A few physicians
remove crescent shaped areas from the bald part of the scalp directly adjacent to
the dense hair.
Vertical Ellipse Reduction
The vertical ellipse reduction is the most common pattern of excision used
to reduce the bald scalp. An ellipse (oval) of bald skin is removed from the center
of the bald area running in a direct line from front to back. The procedure is
simple, but has one potential problem: a posterior slot deformity. If too much bald
area at the very back of the head is removed, it can leave a scar with hair
diverging from it on either side. In effect, this looks like the feathered part of an
arrow shaft with a series of lines pointing directly at the scar. The scar becomes
obvious, and it is almost impossible to hide or correct the
deformity.
French physician, Dr. Patrick Frechet, has developed a clever procedure to
conceal a posterior slot deformity. The procedure creates pedicles of skin that
are rotated into the excised area. Hair from these pedicles break up the abnormal
"slot" by introducing still another direction of hair growth. This confuses the eye,
thereby lessening the effect of the deformity.
Triangular "Mercedes Star" Reduction
The triangular pattern of excision for a scalp reduction has several
advantages. It removes the largest portion of bald scalp from the center of the
baldest area. It also elevates the lower edge of the bald area and raises it toward
the top of the crown area. It is sometimes called the "Mercedes Star" procedure
because its final shape resembles the shape of the Mercedes Benz symbol.
However, this means that the patient is branded with a "Mercedes Star" for life.
With an extensive degree of reduction, slot deformities occur with this procedure
as well, but they are usually minimal and correctable.
Multi-Z Reduction
The multi-z reduction is a variant of the vertical ellipse or triangular
reduction procedure. It is usually reserved for the last of a series of scalp
reduction procedures. Instead of a straight line, the two sides of the incision are
cut in a pattern of matching "saw teeth" so that they mesh. Longitudinal scars
contract along their long axis making the scar more prominent. By breaking up a
single long scar into a series of shorter ones, the contraction of a long scar is
avoided. With this technique, a more cosmetically pleasing result is obtained;
dense hair on either side of the incision often hides the scar, so that further
procedures or grafts may not be needed. This procedure also reduces the
possibility of creating a slot deformity.
Some doctors use a series of lateral excisions at the back and sides of the
head to remove an area of baldness that is limited to the back part of the crown.
Because the scar is at least partly hidden by the dense hair next to it, a lateral
scalp reduction may be much more cosmetically pleasing than a vertical or
triangular one. The latter two procedures leave a scar in the center of the baldest
area. A scar in the center of a relatively bare area will be much more noticeable
than one that is next to dense hair.
Hair Lift
A hair lift is a more radical type of scalp reduction. In the more common
types of scalp reductions described above, the scalp skin is dissected or
loosened down to a level just above the major blood vessels of the scalp. In a
hair lift, the dissection or loosening is to a level below the major blood vessels of
the scalp. To avoid damage to these blood vessels, the nerves are deliberately
cut and tied. This allows removal of a larger area of bald skin in a single
operation instead of doing a series of smaller ones, but it often leaves the head
permanently numb. These patients no longer enjoy the feeling of someone
massaging their heads or running a comb through their scalps.
Unlike other scalp reductions, this major surgical procedure must be performed
under general anesthesia and in a hospital-level surgical setting. It also has the
disadvantage of leaving visible scars around the ears. A side effect of this
procedure is that additional hair may be lost due to the surgical stress; however,
this hair loss is usually temporary. In addition, the donor supply is often
significantly depleted, severely limiting any benefit from possible future hair
transplant procedures.
Scalp Expansion and Scalp Extension
Scalp expanders are silicone balloons inserted into pockets created
between the under surface of the scalp and the skull. After allowing several
weeks for the scalp incisions to heal, the balloons are gradually inflated with a
series of injections of salt solution. The inflated balloons cause the head to swell
to two or three times its normal size. The redundant skin that results is then
excised. Scalp expanders are very useful in cases where traumatic loss of hair
has occurred, especially in children or in burn patients, however they are not
usually used for patients with male pattern hair loss.
With scalp extensions, an internal device is used to pull hair-bearing areas
closer together without the deformity of the balloon expanders. This technique,
developed by Dr. Patrick Frechet, a set of springs is placed inside the scalp.
These springs stretch the scalp and produce overlapping scalp tissue. The
excess skin is removed once it reaches it maximum stretch. The spring-like
device is placed inside the scalp and removed some weeks or months later along
with the excess skin.
Advantages of Scalp Reductions
The one significant advantage to scalp reductions is that in less than one
hour, the balding area in the crown often can be reduced by 3-4 cm in width and
12 cm in length. The benefits are immediate. Occasionally, we see a patient with
a bald spot that is 5-6 cm wide and who has hyper-elastic skin. In these patients,
it may be possible to remove the entire bald area in the crown in a single 30minute procedure.
Disadvantages: Stretchback
Many physicians have begun to question the advisability of doing scalp
reductions. They have cited the occurrence of "stretchback" as a reason not to
do the procedure. Stretchback is a phenomenon in which the stretched part of
the dense hair area widens out. The advantage gained by the scalp reduction is
partially or totally lost. Some of the doctors who criticize scalp reduction say that
they see stretchback in the first few weeks after the procedure. Other doctors
report that they do not see significant stretchback.
Disadvantages: Sterility
Scalp reductions should be performed under more sterile conditions than
are required for other types of hair restoration. Some doctors perform the
procedure under the same clean standard that is used for hair transplants, but
this is not enough to prevent complications. Nevertheless, scalp reductions are
generally categorized as minor surgery and total antisepsis is not required.
Disadvantages: Shock Hair Loss
Sometimes hair on both sides of the incision is temporarily lost for a
distance of 1-2 cm. The cause of this phenomenon is not clear. Hair that is lost
because of surgical shock usually re-grows in three to four months, but there
may not be complete re-growth.
Disadvantages: Accelerated Hair Loss
Accelerated hair loss is more common with scalp reductions than most
surgeons care to admit. The natural course of hair loss, which may normally take
years, is accelerated, and the loss occurs in weeks or months. The process
usually begins within 12 months of the scalp reduction. Hair starts falling out in
significant quantities and may never return. The scars that are usually hidden in
the corrected area may eventually become visible.
Disadvantages: Thinning of the Scalp
The scalp tissue thins because of the stretching of the skin from the
reduction. Some people develop chronic wounds in the surgical scars of the
scalp reduction that recur with some frequency. This is usually the result of
closing the reduction under too much tension, and can be corrected with a scar
revision procedure.
Disadvantages: Scarring
Noticeable scars are frequent side effects of scalp reductions.
Disadvantages: Direction of Hair Growth
With a scalp reduction, hair grows away from the center of the head as the
sides are advanced to the center. This creates an unnatural appearance and
highlights the balding area and any scars that occur.
As scalp reductions are considered a minor surgical procedure, the
chances of complications are low. The risks associated with scalp reductions are
as follows.
Risks: Infection
Although there is a theoretical risk of severe, widespread infection with
scalp reductions, this phenomenon has not been reported. Minor, localized
infections occur, but such infections are seen in fewer than 1% of patients who
have this procedure.
Risks: Posterior Slot Deformity
The complication of posterior slot deformity is frequently seen in patients
who have had multiple midline scalp reductions. As more bald area at the very
back of the head is removed, a scar is created with hair diverging from it on
either side. As discussed under the vertical ellipse reduction, a slot deformity can
create an effect similar to the feathered part of an arrow shaft, with a series of
lines pointing directly at the scar. It makes the scar obvious, and almost
impossible to hide.
Risks: Hemorrhage
Bleeding can occur during any surgical procedure. Because of the
relatively small size of the blood vessels involved in this operation, and because
of their relative accessibility, hemorrhaging during a scalp reduction procedure is
easily controlled. Delayed hemorrhage can occur if the patient does any activity
that suddenly raises his blood pressure to very high levels, such as heavy weight
lifting. Because the blood vessels are superficial, and because the skull underlies
them, simple, direct pressure will control any postoperative bleeding until medical
help arrives.
Risks: Hematoma Formation
A hematoma is a blood clot within the tissues of the body. A hematoma
forms in a scalp reduction when a blood vessel begins to bleed after the incision
is closed. Like a hemorrhage, the formation of a hematoma may follow unusual
physical exertion. If the hematoma is enlarging, active bleeding is occurring, and
direct pressure should be applied just below its lowest point, i.e. the area closest
to the neck. Immediate medical attention is needed.
Risks: Suture Reaction
When a scalp reduction is performed, the deeper layers below the skin
must be sutured together. An absorbable suture is used for this purpose. On rare
occasions, the body rejects this suture material causing pain and swelling, and
occasionally the body tries to expel the suture. If the body tries to expel the
suture material, holes will appear in the scalp with what is called a "suture sinus."
This complication is treated by removing the deep sutures with a minor surgical
procedure or just waiting out the process and allowing the body to dissolve the
suture material over months.
A General Assessment of Scalp Reductions
Scalp reductions became popular at a time when the hair restoration
alternatives were large plugs and flaps. In the modern era of hair restoration
surgery, where transplantations of large numbers of follicular unit grafts are
possible, any potential advantage of this procedure is far more limited. There
has been some recent interest in overcoming some of the technical problems of
scalp reduction surgery, such as reducing stretch back, avoiding mid-line scars
with different patterns of reductions, and shortening the total time to achieve a
desired result. The problems, however, are more than technical.
A balding patient’s appearance is most naturally improved by placing hair in
the most important cosmetic areas, the hairline and the front part of the scalp, as
these provide a natural frame to the face. Since the crown is generally the least
cosmetically important of the balding areas (but potentially the largest), crown
coverage should not be a first priority. It should be addressed after the more
aesthetically important areas have been satisfactorily transplanted. If treated
sooner, there must be sufficient donor reserves to handle any future loss, or the
surgeon must be certain that the front has little risk of baldness.
The potential cosmetic improvement is ultimately limited by a finite donor
supply. This, in turn, is strictly dependent upon donor density and scalp laxity.
Scalp reductions have the undesirable consequence of decreasing the effective
amount of hair that can be moved to the cosmetically critical front and top of the
scalp by simultaneously decreasing the donor density and scalp laxity.
As a result of the scalp reduction, a larger donor area must be harvested to
yield the same amount of hair. This quantity of hair now becomes more difficult
to remove due to a tighter scalp, especially after multiple reductions. When the
strip is removed, some of the hair must then be placed back in the crown to cover
the scar produced by the reduction. It has been explained by proponents of the
operation that a scalp reduction conserves hair by decreasing the size of the bald
crown, but in reality, the hair that is used to cover the crown will not be available
for the front and top. The reduction, by moving the relatively high density of the
back and sides upward is, in actuality, committing large amounts of hair to the
back of the scalp.
Because the aesthetically critical front portion of the scalp is significantly
smaller in size than the back, the transplantation of extensive numbers of very
small grafts can almost always produce satisfactory coverage of the front and the
top of the scalp. For patients with limited donor reserves, there is often not
enough hair to cover the entire scalp. It is in the best interest of these patients to
provide very light coverage to the crown, or leave it bare. However, once the
crown is altered by a scalp reduction, the situation changes dramatically. Hair
must now be placed in the crown to cover the scar caused by the reduction itself.
The scalp reduction scar eliminates the option of leaving the crown untreated. In
a patient who becomes extensively bald, this can be a major problem.
In patients who might traditionally be considered ideal candidates for a
reduction, such as those with a loose scalp, limited balding, and a bare crown
that is cosmetically very bothersome, crown coverage can easily be
accomplished with follicular unit transplantation by creating a delicate swirl in the
center with one, two, and three hair units spiraling outward. The transplanted
swirl will now provide for natural, permanent coverage if the bald area expands,
minimizing the need for further surgery. Furthermore, in patients with moderate
donor density, only a conservative amount of hair is committed to the crown.
When greater donor density permits, fuller crown coverage can be accomplished.
In both instances, the original direction of hair is maintained, crown balding can
progress in its natural radial pattern, and there is no scar.
The scalp reduction hampers the ability to reduplicate the delicate swirl of hair
that normally defines the crown and can create future problems. Since the scalp
reduction scar is linear or geometric, the hair used to cover it will follow the same
pattern. Eventually, as the balding progresses, the hair will recede from the area,
leaving an isolated patch of hair in the same unnatural pattern as the scar it
originally served to cover. The crown will then demand more hair to follow this
new expanding cosmetic problem. After a reduction, the scarred skin, the
irregular balding pattern, and the abnormal direction of hair may preclude the
crown from ever looking normal. This is a significant price to pay for a short-term
cosmetic improvement in the back of one's scalp.
Chapter 13
Hair Systems
In this chapter, we will look at synthetic methods of simulating the look of a
normal head of hair. Most often, these are hairpieces, toupees, wigs, or just
"pieces." The discussion below is true for all hairpieces.
Hairpieces start with a section of netting, called the foundation. The
netting is cut and molded to approximate the size and shape of the bald scalp
area. The highest quality and most natural-looking hairpieces are custom-made
and may cost thousands of dollars. They are made of high quality human hair,
carefully matched to the original hair of the client. The hairs, singly or in very tiny
bunches, are skillfully tied around the threads of the foundation netting and
knotted so that they lay in directions that follow the pattern of natural hair growth.
All wigs are fragile and must be returned regularly to the maker for cleaning and
upkeep; they usually last only a few years. Sun, salt water, the chlorine in
swimming pools, and harsh shampoos all shorten the life of a hairpiece. Most
clients have two of them: one is in use while the other is in the shop.
Considering manufacture, upkeep, and replacement, the expense of wigs
is significant, and the client must expect continued expense throughout his life.
The hairs of less expensive wigs may be made of artificial fibers, animal hair, or
human hair, but human hair has the most natural appearance and behavior. The
less expensive and most common wigs are made from Asian hair that is dyed or
bleached to approximate Caucasian coloring. The texture is never convincing,
and although Asian hair is very strong, the bleaching and toning processes make
it brittle and dry so that the strands break easily. For this reason, cheap
hairpieces are less durable and begin to look fuzzy very quickly; they must be
replaced at frequent intervals.
Hairpieces are the most popular and widely used method of hair
replacement. For men whose baldness is very extensive, a hairpiece may be the
only alternative to hair transplantation or shaving the scalp. The cost and the
final appearance of a hairpiece varies with the materials used and the expertise
of the maker.
The major advantages of wearing a hairpiece are the initial cost and
convenience. The change is immediate and there is usually no medical
procedure involved. A well-made hairpiece should need adjustment about as
often as an average, non-bald man needs to have a haircut.
There are many long-term disadvantages to hairpieces: lack of durability,
cleaning, the need for duplicates, unnatural frontal hairlines, and accelerated hair
loss of the hair covered by the hairpiece.
Durability
Human hair is fragile. Living hair is always breaking off, and the ends may
tend to split. The hair in a hairpiece cannot replace itself as growing hair does.
One must replace the hairpiece at intervals that depend upon the quality of the
hairpiece and the client’s concern for his or her appearance.
Cleaning
Some types of hairpieces are easy for the client to remove and replace.
This allows more frequent scalp cleansing than with permanently attached
hairpieces. The client must choose between convenience and security; both have
advantages and drawbacks. Shampooing cannot remove skin cells, skin oils,
shed hair, and other debris that accumulates between the netting and the scalp
with a permanent hairpiece. These kinds of hairpieces must be removed from
time to time to clean the piece and the underlying hair and scalp.
Duplicates
Many clients have a second hairpiece made to wear while the first is being
cleaned and perhaps re-styled. The initial expense of this option is justified by the
increased lifespan of both pieces.
Frontal Hairline
Unless the client has natural hair remaining in his frontal hairline, the
border of the hairpiece may be highly visible, tending to separate from the scalp
and leaving a visible line. Hiding this space can be the most difficult challenge of
the wigmaker’s art. However, an experienced craftsperson can accomplish this,
and the results can be excellent.
Accelerated Hair Loss
Some hairpieces have the effect of accelerating hair loss. This may be
caused by some of the methods of attachment or the physical or psychological
stress induced by the hairpiece. One example is seen with a pair of identical
twins. In identical twins, hair loss is virtually identical, but in this case, it was not.
One twin used a hairpiece and experienced greater hair loss than his sibling who
did not use a hairpiece.
Methods of Attachment:
The greatest worry for any person who wears a hairpiece is that it will
unpredictably come off and be extremely embarrassing. Wig makers have put
much effort into devising methods to attach the pieces securely. Each solution
has advantages and disadvantages.
Tape
Tape with adhesive on both sides is one of the simplest methods of
attaching a hairpiece. Tape, however, can leave a sticky residue of adhesive on
both the skin and the net foundation of the hairpiece. In addition, tape tends to
become unglued when the hair is pulled or when the wearer sweats. This type of
attachment is especially unsuitable for people who like to exercise in hot, sunny
weather. Swimming and diving also tend to loosen the attachment of taped-on
hairpieces.
Clips and Snaps
Metal clips or snaps can be sewn to the foundation netting. Clips fasten
directly to one’s natural hair. Snaps are tied or sewn to the netting and to the
client’s hair. Snaps must be relocated as the hair grows out and the attachment
loosens. These methods of fixation are secure, and they have the advantage that
the hairpiece can easily be removed so the client can cleanse his scalp. Metal
clips are ideal for affixing a hairpiece during the transition phase when a client
wants to use a hairpiece to cover his baldness while the new hair of a hair
transplant is growing out.
Weaves
In this method, strands of the client’s own hair are pulled through the
openings in the foundation mesh of a hairpiece. The client’s hair is then woven
through the hairpiece foundation to secure it. This method fixes the hairpiece
very securely and naturally because of its many points of attachment. Weaves,
however do require adjustment as the hair grows to keep the hairpiece closely
applied to the client’s scalp. In addition, when touched, hair with a weave feels
very strange. Weaves often pull on existing hair weakened by the balding
process. The constant pull may cause localized, premature hair loss. This
mechanism is called traction alopecia.
Tunnel Grafts
In this technique, tunnels of skin are created in the skin of the client’s
scalp. These tunnels are made from the client’s own skin with skin grafts taken
from another area of the body. Usually, three tunnels are made, one in the front
and two in the back. Plastic or nylon hooks are sewn to the hairpiece. When the
hooks are inserted into the tunnels, the attachment is quite secure, and the
hairpiece can easily be removed and replaced by the client without a visit to the
wigmaker’s salon. The obvious disadvantage of this procedure is that minor
surgery is required to create the tunnels. If the tunnels are removed later,
permanent scars remain in the scalp. Hair transplants can easily cover the scars
on the back of the head left by the tunnels; however, the scar in front may be
difficult to conceal.
No No's
Two procedures involving hairpieces have been set aside for special
attention because of the risks and serious consequences involved: sew-ons and
the implantation of artificial fibers. These last two methods are mentioned only
as a warning against their use. The damage of a scarred scalp is very difficult to
hide or cover. We have seen patients seriously deformed by these techniques
and advise against them.
Sew-Ons
One practice is to sew the hairpiece directly onto the client’s scalp with an
encircling, permanent surgical suture attaching the hairpiece to the scalp. This
procedure is illegal in the United States. Unfortunately, in at least one state (New
Jersey) some companies have been able to practice their witchcraft for years
despite attempts by the New Jersey attorney general to put an end to this
activity.
Skin is a more complex organ than most people realize. One of the skin’s
essential functions is to prevent bacteria and viruses in the environment from
entering the bloodstream and the vital organs. When a suture is placed through
the skin, it leaves a small hole that allows bacteria, to migrate into the fatty tissue
under the skin. This can easily result in infection and abscesses. Many sutures
incite enough of an allergic reaction to cause the suture to be rejected and
extruded by the skin. Surgical sutures left in the skin for too long cut through the
skin and may need replacement. This process is hastened when any traction is
applied to the sutures. Though there are a few types of sutures that may remain
within the skin for a very long time without causing any problem, most are
rejected. Between the sutures, the scars that they cause, and the recurrent
infections, a wall of scar tissue gradually builds up in a complete circle around
the periphery of the scalp. This encircling wall of scar eventually causes almost
total blockage of any blood supply to the central portion of the scalp, as its blood
supply comes upward from the surrounding part of the head. A thin, parchmentlike layer of scar tissue replaces the skin in the center of the scalp. Any
permanent hair that was present in the area surrounded by the suture is also
destroyed. The damage is permanent.
Artificial Fibers
The manufacturer of a synthetic polymer known as "NIDO" claims that the
product looks and feels like human hair. This material comes in small bundles of
fibers, which are implanted directly into the scalp. It is most widely used in Japan
and is available in other countries, but not in the United States. Be careful before
you consider this option, as its short- and long-term safety is in question. These
artificial fibers are associated with many problems:
Cost
Extrusion
Breakage
Infection
Usually $2-$3 per hair fiber.
15%-25% of the fibers are pushed out of the scalp each year.
The artificial fibers are brittle, and tend to break off at the skin level.
Many patients develop chronic infections at the sites of the
implants. It is almost impossible to treat this type of infection
without removing the foreign material.
Sebum Plugs Plugs of fatty material build up at the bases of the fibers and have
to be specially cleansed.
Maintenance Every few weeks, the patient has to be treated for infection and
have the sebum plugs removed. Over time, this is expensive and
probably painful.
Replacement At least once a year, lost and broken fibers have to be replaced.
Look
The nylon fibers have a shinier appearance than natural hair.
Feel
The artificial fibers have an artificial, stiff texture that does not feel
like real hair.
Styling
Combing the synthetic fibers is difficult because traction can break
them or pull them out.
Heat
Use of a hair dryer will cause the fibers to frizz, and damage to the
fibers above the skin level is permanent.
Inflammation Infection caused by fiber implants may cause premature loss of
natural hair follicles adjacent to the artificial fibers. Over time,
inflammation may destroy the scalp to the extent that further hair
transplants of any kind are difficult or impossible.
[The authors are indebted to Dr. Richard Shiell of Melbourne, Australia, for the
description of the problems seen with the use of “NIDO” fibers. Because this
material is not used in the U.S., we have seen only a few patients who have had
these implants, and we have never seen a patient with the material still in place.
All of the patients we have seen have had damage from this material. Dr. Shiell
has seen patients who still have the material in place.]
Chapter 14
Doing Your Homework
A proper assessment of both the quality and quantity of hair required for
reconstruction requires a thorough understanding of the amount and cost of work
required to achieve a defined result. A doctor must ascertain whether the
patient’s intended budget can realistically accommodate his needs and
expectations. Prospective patients should expect the physician to define, in
writing, the expectations and the cost of the work. Ideally, the doctor should
describe his impression of the goals that were defined during the consultation
and what the proposed treatment is intended to accomplish for that patient. The
doctor should also give a prospective patient the opportunity to see and speak
with others who have had the procedures being offered. This benefits both
parties: it ensures that the patient’s expectations are realistic and the patient is
able to make an informed decision.
The well being of the patient depends upon the physician’s integrity. The
physician must educate and inform the prospective patient about the realities of
the services being offered. The patient should be informed of all available
options, what he will experience, what the visual effect will be, and how much it
will cost. The patient should have time to carefully consider the information and
have all questions answered. The patient should not rush to schedule the
procedure, but rather take deliberate steps to delay the decision until the analysis
is complete. A good doctor maintains careful post-operative follow-up of his
patients and ensures they return for observation. Matching the patient’s results
with his or her expectations is an important part of the physician’s educational
obligation to the patient. An ongoing assessment of the patient’s results over time
is part of the service the transplant patient should expect to receive.
Many hair restoration physicians produce brochures and/or videos to give
prospective patients a clear idea of what the procedure entails, or (less helpfully)
to sell them on having surgery. NHI has produced an informative video and
extensive collection of printed material, all of which are provided to prospective
patients before their initial consultations. This ensures that the patient is
educated and prepared to ask questions before meeting with the doctor. The
consultation visit is more valuable when the patient is more informed and can
ask better questions.
When you decide that you may be interested in surgical hair restoration, it
is a sound idea to plan to spend a specific block of time doing research. Many
patients take six months to one year to study the procedures available, meet with
different doctors and patients, and then make informed decisions to go forward
with surgery or not. Planning to take some time in research will help you avoid
the pitfalls of becoming an uninformed patient or being “sold” on a procedure
before you are ready.
The Consultation
The initial interviewer should provide you with basic information about the
hair transplant procedure. You should fill out a basic medical history form to
determine your candidacy for having a surgical procedure. Some assessment of
your hair loss may be done at this time, but no one except a physician or a
specially qualified nurse practitioner may legally perform a physical examination
and render an opinion.
A more knowledgeable interviewer may try to determine if your
expectations are realistic. Some salespersons or patient educators work
independently in "consultation offices" that are without a physician. Be sure that
you are not given the impression that the salesperson is a physician. Also make
certain that salespeople do not recommend the type of surgical procedure to be
used, the number of procedures or the approximate cost of your restoration
without input from a doctor. In some offices, the initial interview is done by a
person who is introduced as a "Medical Associate," but that person may be a
salesman focused on determining how much money you have and on selling you
the procedure. Do not to discuss your financial status before meeting with the
doctor.
When a physician is available in the office, the educator or salesman
should call the doctor in to examine your scalp, determine the amount of donor
hair you have, address your worst-case balding pattern, and then discuss your
surgical options. At this stage, the doctor can then review costs with you. Other
physicians do the entire consultation themselves: educating the patient, taking a
history, doing the physical examination, discussing the options, and reviewing
cost.
See It Before You Believe It!
Ask to meet patients of the medical group you are considering. Be sure
that you meet with someone who has a transplant technique similar to the one
you might have. Meeting and talking with patients will enhance your confidence in
your selection of a doctor. Talk to the doctors about their experience. Look
closely at the quality of the doctor’s work; by seeing the results of the process
you will know whether the work meets your standards. Do not go forward with
any procedure until you have had all your questions answered. This is an alltoo-often shady business, so there is there is no substitute for good research.
Take the time to do your homework. The rewards of a good hair transplant are
well worth your effort, time, and research.
NHI often uses actual patients to educate prospective candidates. People
who have undergone surgery can relate their motivations for having surgery and
their experiences, as well as show their results.
Chapter 15
Establish Realistic Goals and Expectations
Realistic expectations are essential to the success of hair transplantation;
setting them is the responsibility of both doctor and patient. The doctor must
provide each patient with enough information to make an informed decision. This
is the doctor’s legal obligation. Every hair follicle lost because of genetic balding
(androgenic alopecia) is lost forever. If you compare a head of hair to an apple,
as the balding process progresses, parts of the apple are being lost. In cases of
advanced baldness (a person with a Norwood Class 7 baldness pattern), such a
person has lost up to 75% of the apple and as such, he should not reasonably
expect to get a full head of hair back. It would be impossible for anyone to make
25% of an apple look like 100% of an apple. However, if 20% of the apple was
lost, a skilled person could reconstruct the apple so that the missing 20% could
be disguised. The goal of a hair restoration procedure is to make a patient
appear to have more hair than he actually has. This is where the art form must
be balanced against the technical skills of the surgeon. The combination of art
and technique cannot overcome limitations in the quality or quantity of the supply
of hair. Generally, the more hair lost, the less full the appearance of the restored
hair. All hair restoration procedures, including hair transplantation, actually move
hair from one place on the head to another. New hair is not created, but
redistributed from the back and sides of the head (where there is an abundant
supply) to areas where there is little or none. No surgical procedures create new
hair. Scalp reductions do not preserve hair for use in transplants, as some
physicians claim, for the same wreath of permanent hair is stretched to cover a
wider area in the crown, thereby thinning it. Flaps move large areas of hair from
the wreath of permanent hair, leaving significant scarring and distortion of scalp
anatomy in the process. Traditional large 4 mm hair transplant grafts, transfer
plugs of hair into bald areas, creating patches of hairy skin and thus create the
doll’s head look, so commonly associated with hair transplants.
In modern hair transplantation, very small naturally growing groups of hair
follicles are moved. These follicular grafts are less noticeable than larger grafts
and are often indistinguishable from the natural groups of hair growing in
adjacent areas of the scalp. The grafts are placed into a pinhole that may leave
no discernible scar. The density of the transplanted hair in its new location
cannot equal the density of the hair that was originally in that location. In thinning
areas, transplanted hair can significantly increase the apparent density by adding
hair follicles or groups of hairs and mixing these with existing hair. The key is to
add density inconspicuously. The hair in the new location must appear as full and
natural as possible.
Unless a very bald man has a high hair density and a loose scalp, there is
not enough hair to cover the entire head. A very thin head of hair, a very
conservative, high hairline, and/or deliberately leaving the crown area un-grafted
or very thin, may be the only available options; this must be understood when a
patient makes the decision to have surgery. This is particularly true if the
patient’s hair density is below average. In patients with extensive hair loss and
low-density of donor hair, there is no way that transplantation can achieve a full
head of hair. Special artistic techniques, however, can exploit what hair remains.
Many of these individuals will be satisfied with a high hairline that does not have
a distinct edge. This produces a natural but well-framed thin look. High contrast
hair-to-skin color combinations make more advanced hair loss harder to restore.
Both the patient and the doctor bring their own expectations to the
process. For the patient, there is no substitute for doing proper research into the
subject. Patients must accept the responsibility for their actions and choices if
they fail to do the necessary research prior to having surgery. Anyone
contemplating such services can only protect himself by educating himself.
A patient’s education should include reading general material on the
subject that has been produced by the doctor being considered for the transplant
service. A review of this material can reveal a great deal about the particular
medical group; it will also tell you whether the doctor wants educated patients.
An educated consumer should learn to recognize marketing gimmicks and
how such gimmicks can be used to set false expectations in selling hair
transplants. Beware of a one-sided, very positive interview. Educating
prospective patients and giving them the information necessary, including
negative information, to make these very important decisions with confidence is
the purpose of the interview with the doctor.
Coverage Goals
The doctor must discuss your hopes and expectations in light of the
physical realities and financial constraints of your particular case. NHI affiliated
physicians will work with you to develop realistic goals that are possible to
achieve. It is impossible to determine exactly how many procedures it will take to
accomplish the coverage you may want. Many people change their goals as their
perspective changes with more hair. What we call "hair greed" often reflects a
high satisfaction with the initial hair transplant and must be calculated into your
decision-making formula.
Hairline Design
The doctor should sketch a hairline on your head and photograph you so
that you can give your insights on a hairline location that meets your needs, your
family and ethnic background, and your budget. The choice of hairline (how high,
how flat, etc.) is very personal and depends on your head, facial shape, ethnicity,
family characteristics, hair reserves, and personal goals. We generally
discourage hairlines that do not reflect a maturing pattern because we fully
expect that every one of our patients will live to be old.
Designing the Distribution of Your Hair
In general, we will transplant your hair in a natural distribution, (the way it
naturally grows), so you may groom it as you choose. This is realistic in
individuals who have above average hair densities and/or more than enough hair
to gain the desired coverage for the area being covered. In individuals with lowdensity hair or an extensive balding area, weighting the hair to one side or the
other may produce better coverage from the hair that can be safely harvested. In
some instances where a patient has had previous transplants that were
improperly distributed, and the patient has a limited donor supply, we may
choose to distribute the repair transplants in a way that will most effectively
camouflage the existing transplants.
Styling Tricks and Adjuncts
A patient can make his hair appear thicker by using various mousses, gels
and wetting agents. In addition, having a permanent can make straight hair wavy.
A good hair stylist can make what we might consider poor hair characteristics
look like better hair characteristics. In addition, scalp-coloring agents, which
come in many product forms, can color the scalp to reduce high contrast
between skin and hair color. By combining styling products with the talents of a
good stylist and a skilled hair transplant surgeon, many individuals can achieve
fuller results than with hair transplantation alone. This is particularly important for
individuals who have depleted their donor supplies by having surgery that used
older techniques.
Financial Planning with Your Budget
Your financial situation will determine how many grafts or how much work
you can afford. You should not rush into the transplant process unless you can
afford to follow-up with enough work to leave you with a normal appearance. To
facilitate this, NHI offers various treatment plans and financing programs to
patients who qualify. In these situations, the goals of the patient must be based
on economics. Often, a patient is inclined to do only the work he feels he can
afford rather than to follow the recommended treatment plan. Patients should
clearly understand the aesthetic consequences of purchasing less than the
recommended number of grafts. The doctor should be inflexible when it comes to
creating a "work in progress" that will lead to an unhappy outcome. Hair
restoration surgery is elective surgery and because it is elective, there is plenty of
time to think about it thoroughly before commencing the process. In our
experience, a major cause for patient dissatisfaction is associated with moving
less hair than was recommended. Often, we advise patients to wait until
financial resources can be balanced with an appropriate procedure that is
designed to meet reasonable goals. The rate of hair loss must also be taken into
account, particularly in young men with early, rapid onset balding or thinning.
Financial Planning for the Progressive Nature of Hair Loss
Given the large number of grafts we routinely place in a single session at
NHI, a patient may find that all the work he or she will ever require is
accomplished in a single session. However, the patient’s balding pattern often
dictates the necessity of additional procedures. This is the case when the
restoration involves following a receding hairline, particularly in a young patient
just starting on his balding pattern. After the initial procedure, the patient is
committed to additional procedures as his hairline recedes; the patient must
clearly understand the financial commitment he is entering into before having his
first surgery. Each hair loss patient has a natural stopping point. Completing the
restoration process to this point will allow the patient to have an aesthetically
acceptable result. Some individuals can stop after one procedure and some
cannot. It is imperative that an individual recognize the category he is in before
commencing his hair restoration program.
Patients with Previous Hair Restoration Surgeries
Unfortunately, more than 1 million men started the hair transplant process
with pencil-size grafts. This produced the well-known cornrow or doll’s head look
that characterizes the early hair restoration era. In addition, these older
procedures were frequently wasteful of hair and produced significant scarring
around the sides and back of the head. These early techniques produced
cosmetic deformities that may possibly be repaired or corrected with Follicular
Unit Transplantation.
1.
Hair Restoration History: Your history allows your physician to estimate
the required work and the availability of donor hair. The following information is
collected:
•
Number and type of procedures, names of physicians, and dates
•
Condition of donor area and donor area scars from previous
surgeries, and
•
Description of current hair systems.
2.
Satisfaction and Need for Camouflage: The patient (working closely with
the physician) will determine his priorities for additional work. Often focusing on
making the hairline look more natural by hiding or removing plugs or scars.
3.
Characterization of Donor Area: This critical assessment is needed to
determine how much movable hair is left in the donor area. This will determine
how much total additional work can be done and the number of grafts that may
be
attempted in each additional procedure.
4.
Status of the Recipient Areas: Each patient should create a list of the
goals to be addressed. As the donor supply is often limited, this list will be the
basis of a new Master Plan for the repair. Many times, the list may be more
extensive than the donor supply can support. Compromises may be necessary,
because once the donor supply is fully exploited, further hair restoration
procedures will not be possible. This list must not only to itemize the hair
coverage issues,
but also problems such as cobblestoning, scarring and
plugginess. All of the above information will be used to create a unique plan for
each patient.
Realities of Rebuilding Your Hairline
Regaining the hair density of your youth is not a realistic goal. Although
some doctors may claim that high hair density can be achieved without a
“pluggy” appearance, such claims are misleading. There number of hairs that can
be redistributed to cover your balding areas is finite.
In addition to the problems inherent in redistributing a limited amount of
hair, there are also limitations on how close together transplanted hair can be
placed. A relatively thick hairline can give the illusion of more hair and fullness,
but achieving this natural appearance is not easy. Auto-transplantation is the
science of moving an organ or tissue from one part of the body to another part.
Hair follicles constitute an organ that includes the vital support structures needed
for the hair to live and grow.
Because of the need to preserve the sustaining organ during the hair
transplant procedure; the physician must extract a safe amount of tissue
surrounding the follicle. This extra tissue limits how closely hair can be packed
together. Though it may be difficult to mimic nature’s density, certain techniques
allow the packing of hair to create a natural appearance. In addition to the
problems associated with transplanting follicles containing extra tissue, the
volume of the scalp also affects the ability to densely pack hair grafts. By placing
follicles into the holes placed in the scalp, there is an increase in mass in the
area of transplant. If the holes are too close, the insertion of grafts in one section
will force grafts out of adjacent sections.
This is a mechanical problem, not a blood supply problem. The skills
required to manage this problem well take years to learn; it is for this reason that
dense packing is not widely accepted.
Through a series of such procedures, successive groups of small grafts
(1-4 hairs) are placed in a way that creates a dense appearing hairline with a
normal, soft transition that frames the face. To appear natural, grafts must be
graded with 1-hair units in the leading edge and larger units behind the leading
edge.
Chapter 16
The Psychology of Hair Restoration Patients
Men under the age of 25 with hair loss are having hair restoration
procedures more frequently today. These young men are confronted by both
their entry into manhood and the perception that their balding is aging them at an
accelerated rate. These patients often feel deprived of an essential element of
their youth. This feeling is created and affirmed, seemingly by everything our
western culture promotes.
Hair is indicative of a healthy, youthful appearance. Images on television
and in the movies reinforce the association between a youthful appearance and a
full head of hair. It is difficult for a young man who is balding to sort out his
identity when surrounded by a world of hairy, virile, healthy, "normal" appearing
young men. For these young hair transplant candidates, objectivity does not
always prevail. Panic sometimes generates the decision to get their hair back.
The premature loss of hair becomes equated, in their minds, with the premature
loss of their youth; therefore, medical education, ethics, and honest rules of
engagement (informed consent) must be high on the physician’s priorities when
discussing the hair restoration procedure with this youthful subset of the balding
population.
Men in their 30’s and early 40’s are more deliberate about the decision to
undergo hair transplant surgery. Many have considered the procedure for some
time, but faced with the difficulty of getting accurate information and finding a
doctor they trust, they may wisely delay the decision. Some outside factor may
finally push them to become serious in pursuing hair restoration surgery. This
factor may be a business decision, (a younger looking person may have more
earning potential), a divorce, or the availability of financial resources.
Alternatively, it may reflect the self-indulgence of a confident, successful
person doing something for himself.
Having hair restoration surgery is moderately expensive. The cost
depends upon several factors: the amount of work that must be done based upon
the level of hair loss, the expectations of the patient, the proposed method, and
who will perform the work. It may cost more than a mid-size car, a cruise, or a
safari, so it deserves serious consideration. A vacation or a safari lasts but a few
weeks; a mid-sized car will last a few years; but a hair restoration will last a lot
longer. The cost of the restoration is a factor, but should not be the overwhelming
determinant.
Going to an expensive surgeon does not guarantee good results. If the
cost of the work exceeds the patient’s ability to pay for what he actually needs,
the patient may not be able to finish the work he started. A poorly planned
procedure, or failure to complete what was started, can produce a medical
oddity. A properly staged procedure over long periods is as good a choice as a
Fast Track® approach. The key to a successful hair restoration is the creation of
a customized plan that reflects the goals of each patient. An attempt to cut costs
can lead to a lifetime of regret every time you look in the mirror. One should ask:
"How much hair will I actually get for the dollars I am planning to spend?" As men
grow older, they become more discriminating. They have life experience, and
know what they want because they have the maturity to make balanced, nonemotional judgments. They are thoughtful about the decision process and they
usually take the time to research their choices reasonably well. For those who
can afford it, there is no substitute for the best money can buy. Men under 30
may be more motivated by the emotional aspect of looking older too soon. They
are vulnerable to high-pressure sales tactics by unscrupulous salesmen. Men
over 30 often feel they have worked hard, achieved a great deal and therefore
decide to reward themselves. More often, they may want to look as young as
they feel, and having hair is important to their sense of well being.
Chapter 17
Determining Quality and Value
Quality
Quality in hair transplantation is priceless and although we often tie
quality, value, and price together; quality should never be compromised. Small,
delicate grafts are critical to high quality results in hair transplantation. Value
must be judged by evaluating both quality and cost. When comparing the cost of
procedures offered by different medical groups, it must be an apples-to-apples
comparison. Ask:
•
How many grafts will I receive in each session? What
is the size of the grafts and how many hairs will each
graft contain? How many hairs will be moved in each
session?
•
Will I have sufficient donor hair after completion of
this procedure for future hair restoration?
•
How much will I pay for each graft in each session?
How many sessions will I need? What can I expect to
pay for the entire hair restoration process?
Your goal should be to achieve the best quality work with the highest
number of hairs moved in the smallest, most practical graft size. One hair at a
time may produce inadequate density. Naturally appearing follicular unit grafts of
1-4 hairs may make more sense. When hairs are clumped together in unnatural
groupings, there may be a lower initial cost, but these hair transplants will be
detectable to the naked eye (toothbrush look) and an unnecessarily rapid
depletion of your remaining donor hair as more hair is moved in this way. It is
critically important to recognize that compromise may be necessary, and each
patient must be in a position to understand the benefits and liabilities of each
element in the decision process when planning the size and distribution of the
transplants.
The larger the size of your grafts, the more hairs will be in each graft and
the more unnatural you will look as these larger grafts produce a greater contrast
to the surrounding skin. Larger grafts also tend to be more wasteful and deplete
the donor supply faster than smaller grafts. Smaller grafts appear more natural,
but they may have a smaller impact on the balding area if they are not done in
substantial quantities.
Negative Value
Having an unnatural appearance, spending money out of proportion to the
benefits you receive, losing valuable time in living a normal life, and accelerating
the hair loss process, are all signs of negative value. Deciding whether to have
hair restoration and what type of hair restoration to have is difficult, and your time
investment must be part of the formula and multiple small surgeries take a high
toll on the patient in many ways.
The worst outcome possible occurs in the patient who receives poor
quality work that cannot be fully corrected. The negative value is incalculable, as
the patient may have to live with the consequences of this error for the rest of his
or her life. For a person who undertook the hair restoration process to avoid a
wig, wearing one to cover a bad job is a daily reminder of his or her mistake. A
toothbrush appearance often takes more work and more money to fix than it took
to create, if surgical corrections are possible at all. In these situations, the cost
may sharply increase in trying to correct what cannot truly be repaired.
Camouflage is the only answer and is always imperfect.
Value
How do you determine value of a purchase of this magnitude and of such
a personal nature? This issue needs to be answered to the comfort of each
individual patient before making the decision to have any hair restoration or
transplant procedure. Value is determined by such factors as:
1.
Your results will reflect the outcome after your work is complete and all of
your transplanted hair has grown in. A true understanding of the value of your
surgery cannot
be assessed until after the work is complete. You should compare what was
anticipated with what was achieved and the two should approximate each other.
As having hair will
give you a different perspective, it is important to make this comparison relative
to your starting point, as your memory may fade and your mind may repress any
connection with your old bald or thin look.
2.
Inconvenience reflects the time you dedicated to the hair
restoration
process at the expense of work, the discomfort associated with each procedure,
the social dislocations caused by each procedure, etc. If you feel that your hair
restoration has been of value, that value will tend to minimize these
inconveniences. To properly estimate the
inconveniences involved in surgical hair restoration, you should personally
interview some of your proposed doctor’s patients. Their experiences will act as
a reality check on what the doctor told you. This should be done before the
surgical process is started.
3.
Risk reflects all of the uncertainties (real or imagined) including medical
complications of the procedures, psychological ramifications associated with the
process, and social effects before, during, and after transplantation. Proper
research and interviews with patients will address these issues in advance.
4.
The total cost of the process in terms of lost time at work,
opportunity
costs, social costs, and total dollars spent must be related to the results you
achieved. Such measurements as cost per session, cost per graft, cost per
transferred hair follicle and the like, reflect value in measurable units. The ability
of your surgeon to accurately estimate the cost of a restoration should be
anticipated before a procedure is begun. Meet with patients who have had
extensive reconstructions by the doctor you are going to choose. Lowballing is
more common than anyone is willing to admit. Do not get suckered into a false
sense of security without proper interviews with some of the doctor’s previous
patients.
5.
Commitment to completion means that the question that
must be
asked is: "must I complete the process once started?" Well-performed minigrafts
or Follicular Unit Grafts, when done correctly in accordance to a customized
Master Plan (depending upon hair character and color), will allow each session
to stand independent of every other session, achieving in the worst case a
thinner appearance than was originally planned. Ask the doctor if one procedure
can stand on its own.
6.
Time from start to end of procedures reflects not only the
calendar
months from the first to the last procedure, but also the number of surgeries
required to reach the last procedure. Each surgery produces down time, social
dislocations, possibly lost time at work, some level of physical discomfort and
considerable anxiety. The time span for all
this may be months or years in some Master Plans.
These six areas are critical in order to understand value. In the final
measurement, only results count. A pluggy appearance will have a negative
value for most people. A thin natural look may only have partial value if the
patient was expecting a full head of hair. On the other hand, a thin look may be
the only reasonable expectation for a person with advanced baldness, high
contrast of skin to hair color, straight fine hair or a limited supply of hair.
Evaluation of your results must relate your gains after surgery to the expectations
established at the onset of the process.
Chapter 18
Hair Loss in Women
Until now, this discussion has been confined primarily to the effects and
treatment of hair loss in men. Men were the first patients to have hair transplants,
and men comprise about 98% of hair all transplantation patients today. Several
factors may play a part in this phenomenon. In the past, baldness was usually
portrayed as an exclusively male phenomenon. After the 1700’s, men stopped
wearing wigs over full heads of hair, but women have continued to wear wigs and
hairpieces. Women wear wigs not only to compensate for hair loss, but also to
change their hairstyles or color, to conceal bad haircuts and make dramatic
fashion statements. Advertising and research about hair replacement has almost
exclusively addressed the problem in men. It is important, however, to be aware
that, though men are usually the ones recognized as having hair loss, and
though the hair loss process is commonly called male pattern baldness, women
are also affected by androgenetic alopecia. Women represent 40% of the U.S.
balding or thinning population, but their hair loss tends to manifest itself in overall
thinning of the hair, including thinning of the donor area. It is the stable donor
area that, in male patients, makes successful hair transplantation possible.
Unfortunately, seventy-five percent of women with androgenetic alopecia may
not be suitable candidates for hair transplantation.
Many women come to a hair transplant surgeon as a last resort. Most are
desperate, as the medical community ignores their complaints about hair loss.
Successful female hair transplant candidates must be healthy, have no evidence
of thyroid disease and their hormonal history must be taken. Prior to hair
transplantation surgery, the following conditions should be considered as
possible causes of female hair loss: anemia, thyroid disease, connective tissue
disease, gynecological conditions and emotional stress. It is also important to
review the use of medications that can cause hair loss, such as oral
contraceptives, beta-blockers, vitamin A, thyroid drugs, coumadin and
prednisone. The following laboratory tests are often useful if underlying
problems are suspected: CBC, Chem Screen, ANA, T4, TSH, STS,
Androstenedione, DHEA-Sulfate, Total and Free Testosterone. Once these
medical conditions are eliminated as possible causes of female hair loss,
genetics is the most common cause of the balding or thinning process. Women
who are candidates for hair transplantation usually have widespread, generalized
thinning; and they want widespread generalized thickening, so an education in
realistic expectations is critical.
Female androgenetic alopecia is generally observed as an intact frontal
1/3rd inch of hairline while the area behind this "permanent" hairline is thinning or
balding. A full and careful examination of the scalp is essential in making the
correct diagnosis. The proper diagnosis of the female patient with hair loss is a
critical step in assessing which women can be helped by hair transplantation and
which women may be further damaged by the hair transplantation process.
Chemically, testosterone is related to the two major female sex hormones:
estrogen and progesterone. A portion of the estrogen circulating in a woman’s
body is normally converted into a hormone that has male sex hormone activity.
This process is more active in elderly and obese women. This helps to explain
why some older and overweight women have more facial and body hair than
others.
Men tend to wear shorter hairstyles than most women do. Transplanted
hair, like natural hair, grows at a rate of about 1 cm (0.5 inches) per month. For
most men, transplanted hair reaches a length where it adds additional bulk to the
background hair within 3-6 months. For women, this same process often takes
12 months because of the greater length of the background hair. Female patients
have a difficult time seeing the growth during this interim. No matter how often
they are reassured, many female patients may become discouraged.
Despite these problems, women make excellent hair replacement
patients. Many of the problems that men experience do not occur in women.
Women’s hair is often longer than men’s hair; therefore, immediate coverage of
the donor area is not usually a problem. While visualization of the additional bulk
of new hair takes more time in women than it does in men, women do not have
the problem of visibility of the grafts that bald men do. Women who are losing
their hair tend to style the remaining hair long enough to provide some coverage
of the balding area. This coverage also hides the new grafts while they are
growing in. This allows denser placement of grafts in the initial procedure, and
may reduce the total number of hair transplant sessions. This same factor also
allows a woman to schedule treatment sessions at longer intervals than is usual
for men.
Many women who have had face lift surgery are left with a band of scar
that runs from just in front of one ear across the top of the head to the opposite
side. The central part of this scar is easily concealed by long hair, but the scar
just in front of the ears is harder to hide. Women who have this problem must
adapt their hairstyles to cover the scars. Unfortunately, most women and many
doctors are not aware that the central part of the scar can be reduced in a simple
office procedure and the scar in front of the ears can be completely replaced with
hair transplants that have a natural appearance.
Traction alopecia is a form of hair loss almost unique to women. Traction
alopecia can result in recession of the hairline when hair is chronically pulled very
tight to form braids or pigtails. In the United States, it is most commonly seen in
African American women. This type of hair loss can often be corrected with
transplants.
The Key is Diagnosis
The degree of miniaturization of hair follicles must be assessed throughout
the scalp. This assessment is critical in qualifying women for surgery. In males,
miniaturization is usually localized in the balding pattern. In women, the
miniaturization of hair may be localized (as in males) or it may extend over the
entire scalp, including part or all of the fringe area around the sides and the back
of the head. The first step in deciding whether a woman is a candidate for
transplantation should be to assess the degree of miniaturization throughout the
scalp. Women whose entire "fringe" areas show significant miniaturization are
generally not good candidates for hair transplantation. For women with limited
“permanent” zone involvement, it may be possible to perform a transplant
providing that their expectations are realistic. Telogen effluvium (short term hair
loss caused by surgical trauma to hair follicles) is common after hair
transplantation procedures in women.
Hair transplantation should be viewed as a localized process for most
female patients. Transplantation can be quite beneficial when used to augment
styling in the front, where the hair is parted, or in a local, well-defined area
where styling is difficult such as a side or midline part. Treatment of women
who qualify for hair transplantation falls into four categories:
•
A woman with a loss pattern similar to a man can be treated in a
manner similar to the approach we use with men if the “permanent” zone does
not show significant miniaturization.
•
A woman who maintains her original frontal hairline with balding or
thinning behind it, can often be treated by adding density to create fullness in
defined areas.
•
A woman who has generalized thinning in the front, top and crown
areas can have added density if the entire “permanent” zone is not impacted by
the miniaturization process. The density should be designed to augment styling,
not solve the thinning problem.
•
A woman who has lost hair secondary to another cosmetic
procedure such as a facelift or brow-lift may be a good candidate for hair
transplant surgery. The complications of facial surgery are compounded by
scars either at the hairline or behind it. Side hairlines (including sideburns) can
be satisfactorily transplanted.
The art and science of women’s hair restoration is distinctly different from
men’s. Widespread ignorance is pervasive in the medical profession, and few
medical articles address hair transplantation for women. It is critical that the
doctor first rule out underlining systemic disease (thyroid disease, collagen
vascular disease, anemia, etc.) and the various causes of telogen effluvium
(weight loss, pregnancy, oral contraceptives and stress), which are reversible
over time. A thorough family history usually demonstrates similar genetic patterns
in mothers or siblings. Women who are candidates for hair transplantation are
among the most satisfied patients we treat.
Chapter 19
Repairing Bad Hair Transplants
A significant number of hair restoration surgeries performed at the New
Hair Institute involve some type of corrective procedures to fix bad hair
transplants, scalp reductions and flaps performed by other physicians. The
following describes the approach that NHI physicians use when dealing with
patients who need repair work.
Improperly performed hair restoration surgeries present a series of unique
problems that often must be solved by deviating from the normal rules that would
apply to performing a hair transplant on a “virgin” scalp. Repairs require far more
experience and creativity on the part of the surgeon than when performing the
original transplant. In repair procedures, the surgeon encounters a multitude of
problems that often exist simultaneously. Unfortunately, the improper techniques
that cause the cosmetic defects are often the same ones that limit the repair.
Fundamental to all repair work, therefore, is establishing a series of goals that
are carefully prioritized so that, in the event they cannot all be met, the ones most
critical to the patient’s appearance are dealt with first.
The patient who has had a bad hair transplant experience is often
depressed, angry and distrusting. Therefore, the surgeon attempting a repair
has a number of challenges, not all surgical. He must restore confidence in a
patient who feels he was betrayed by the medical establishment and who often
wishes he had never started with the hair restoration process in the first place.
The physician must establish trust in a patient who had been misled, establish
new goals when previous goals had not been met, and explain a sequence of
new procedures when the prior ones were not well understood.
The doctor must also convince his patient to embark on a new series of surgeries
with the understanding that obvious benefit may not be apparent after the initial
procedures. He must plan his surgery in concert with the social needs of the
patient and design the procedure so that specific styling and grooming
techniques can be used to enhance the surgery. The doctor must then perform
surgery with techniques individualized to the particular patient and deal with
problems that cannot always be anticipated before the surgery is begun.
Restoration work is a creative endeavor that combines communication, surgical
and aesthetic skills to achieve the patient’s goals.
Although many problem results reflect procedures that were routinely
performed prior to the advent of the use of small grafts, the availability of
“modern techniques” alone does not protect the patient against bad work. Errors
in surgical and aesthetic judgment, performing procedures on non-candidates,
and operating on patients with unrealistic expectations, still remain major
problems. Therefore, extreme care in selecting a surgeon is just as important
today even though, as a whole, physicians are performing better surgery.
The use of very small grafts, and now follicular unit grafts, eliminates
many of the more blatant problems associated with the older procedures.
However, there are “cost cutting” techniques used by some physicians that
create new areas of concern. One of these is the automated “graft cutter” where
thin slivers of donor tissue are placed on a series of blades and smacked with a
hammer into smaller pieces. These techniques appear to save the patient
money, however, they unnecessarily destroy precious donor hair and limit the
amount of fullness that can be achieved. Even procedures touted as state-ofthe-art technology, such as laser hair transplantation, can cause harm to unwary
patients by slowing the healing process and causing unnecessary scarring in the
recipient area.
Problems Seen with Bad Hair Transplants
The major cosmetic problems encountered with poorly planned, or
improperly executed, hair restoration surgery can be classified as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Grafts too large or “pluggy”;
Hairline too far forward;
Hairline too broad;
Hair placed in the wrong direction;
Unrealistic area of attempted coverage;
Scarring in the recipient area;
Ridging;
Hair wastage; and
Donor area scarring.
Many of these problems are interrelated and patients needing repair work
often have multiple problems to correct. Before “correcting” an old transplant, it is
important to first establish what aspects of the old work bother the patient most.
The patient must clearly express his or her concerns and his or her priorities, and
then discuss the management of each of these issues with the physician. It may
not always be possible to solve all the problems, but partial improvement may
still be a worthy goal. Some aspects of the transplant that bother the surgeon
may be left untreated if they do not necessarily concern the patient. Setting
priorities before the repair has begun will help ensure maximum patient
satisfaction.
Large Grafts
There are multiple problems with patients who have received larger grafts.
When hair is distributed properly in a hair restoration procedure, the density
should not exceed 50% of one’s original density. The reason for this is that the
normal human scalp has at least a 100% visual redundancy. This means that
the eye cannot perceive hair loss until it exceeds 50%. There is, then, no logical
reason to restore more than 50%, especially in view of the fact that the balding
individual has less total hair volume.
As a result of the contraction of plugs once they have been transplanted,
the density of hair in the plugs may actually exceed the donor density. This
produces a pattern of excessive density within the larger grafts and empty
spaces between them. In most patients who will have a significant amount of
balding, there is not enough donor hair to both fill in the spaces between the
plugs and cover all the area that needs to have hair. As a result, the surgeon is
left with the dilemma of choosing between a pluggy look scattered over a large
area or very high density in some areas with insufficient coverage in others.
Often the patient is left with both problems!
It is important to note that one often observes less density in the grafts
than one would anticipate from the size of the harvested plug. This can be due
to a number of different mechanisms. Two of the most common are hair loss
from poor harvesting techniques, and hair loss caused by a phenomenon called
“doughnutting.” In doughnutting, the centers of grafts get insufficient oxygen
following transplantation and therefore, the follicles in the central portion of the
grafts fail to survive. This results in hair growing only in the periphery of the
grafts. This was a common phenomenon in 4- and 5-mm plugs, but can also be
noted in grafts 3-mm in size. A “crescent moon” deformity occurs when these
two problems exist simultaneously and the transection, in effect, cuts off half of
the doughnut leaving a crescent moon shape. An additional problem is that, in
these cases, even though the appearance might not be very pluggy, the total
available donor hair is markedly decreased. These problems do not occur with
micrografts or follicular unit grafts.
A Hairline that is Too Low or Too Broad
Although the adolescent hairline hugs the upper brow crease, the position
of the normal adult male hairline is approximately one fingerbreadth higher (1.5
cm above the upper brow crease at the midline). A common mistake of the
inexperienced hair restoration surgeon is to restore the hairline to the adolescent,
rather than the normal adult position. Hairlines that have been restored to the
low adolescent position are most commonly seen in younger patients whose
memory of their adolescent hairline is still fresh in their minds and who put
considerable pressure on the doctor to place hair in this location. Unfortunately,
this also occurs in the situation where the physician is anxious to get the patient
“started” with surgery rather than embarking on a more conservative (and more
appropriate) medical treatment. A low frontal hairline not only distorts the
patient’s facial proportions, it sets expectations that are unsustainable if the
balding progresses, and precludes a natural balanced look to the restoration as
the patient ages.
Hair Placed in the Wrong Direction
In the front and top part of the scalp hair grows in a distinctly forward
direction changing to a circular pattern, only as one approaches the crown. The
hair always emerges from the scalp at an acute angle, with the angle being most
acute at the temples. The patient’s own hair direction must be followed exactly if
there is any hope of the transplant looking natural. The only exception would be
with swirls at the frontal hairline that most likely won’t be permanent.
Unfortunately, there has been a tendency for hair restoration surgeons,
using larger grafts, to transplant them perpendicular to the skin from the outset.
This is probably due to the fact that the mechanics of the old plug procedures
made sharp angling technically difficult and resulted in more elevation and/or
pitting when the grafts healed. Sadly, these habits persist even with the use of
very small grafts. It is not uncommon to see a patient whose transplanted frontal
hairline has hair pointing in a radial direction, giving a “Statue of Liberty”
appearance. Another problem with placing hair perpendicular to the scalp is that
the viewer looks into the base of the hair shaft (where the hair inserts into the
scalp). This looks distinctly abnormal, although the patient is often unaware of
the problem. In a properly performed hair transplant, the hair is transplanted
pointing forward and then when the hair is groomed to the side or back, the hair
is bent (bowed), showing the curve of the hair shaft to the viewer, rather than the
base.
Unrealistic Area of Attempted Coverage
The first area to bald is generally the area where you should be most wary
when transplanting. This useful guideline is commonly ignored by doctors
anxious to get their patients started with surgery. For example, the temples and
crown generally bald first, but recession at the temples and thinning in the crown
are very acceptable, especially as the patient ages. The central forelock region,
however, is generally late to bald (particularly in certain family lines), but when it
is lost, the patient looses the frame to his face and its restoration becomes
essential.
An adequate amount of hair must always be reserved for the critical areas
such as the forelock and top of the scalp, regardless of whether these areas
need coverage at the time of the initial transplant. If the patient’s donor reserves
are limited, due to poor scalp laxity, low donor density, fine hair shaft diameter or
a host of other reasons, the transplantation of other less critical areas should be
postponed or avoided entirely. A pattern that resembles “two horns and a tail”
may result when doctors are too aggressive in transplanting the temples and
crown in a young person. This can become a cosmetic nightmare for the patent
when there is further balding and these regions cannot be connected due to
inadequate donor reserves.
Scarring in the Recipient Area
Traditional round grafts require the largest wounds, but even minimicrografting produces wounds that can be unnecessarily large as most of the
donor tissue is transplanted along with the hair. These large wounds often result
in scarring. Scarring has a number of undesirable effects on the transplant.
When severe, it can cause graft elevation or depression, loss of grafts after the
surgery and poor hair growth. When mild, scarring may result in subtle textural
and visual irregularities in the skin around the grafts, produce a distortion of the
hair direction and cause a change in quality of the hair shaft, all reducing the
chance of a cosmetically satisfactory result.
Laser hair transplantation, more aptly termed “laser site creation”
represents the epitome of purposeless scarring. The laser itself is nothing more
than a marketing gimmick. Basically, the laser is a glorified “punch” that creates
holes or slits in the recipient scalp by removing (vaporizing) tissue. The laser is
smartly marketed with claims that “the beam is so precise that the zone of
thermal injury can be measured in microns.” However, regardless of how little
damage is done to surrounding tissue, the recipient tissue directly under the
beam is totally destroyed.
The laser has the additional disadvantages of increased set-up time,
greater cost, and potential eye hazards. The laser operator lacks the precise
tactile and visual guidance to adjust for depth and angle when making sites on a
curved scalp. Most important, the laser destroys tissue and unnecessarily
increases the recipient wound size.
Ridging
Another significant cosmetic problem produced by larger grafts is the extra
volume of tissue introduced into the recipient site. This extra tissue produces a
fullness and elevation of the transplanted area and a clinically apparent ridge,
separating it from the surrounding bald scalp. In some patients, this problem is
compounded by a negative reaction of the surrounding tissue in response to the
transplanted grafts. This phenomenon, termed “hyperfibrotic change” by Dr. Dow
Stough, accentuates the abnormal contour of the transplanted area. In addition,
there is some evidence that the hair subsequently placed into this area may
exhibit sub-optimal growth.
Hyperfibrotic changes are rarely seen with very small grafts and have not
been reported with Follicular Unit Transplantation.
Wasting Hair
Wastage of donor hair, not often noted initially, is a major limitation to
preserving adequate density for sufficient coverage. It is the hidden enemy of all
successful repairs. Hair wastage comes in many forms: poor graft harvesting
and dissection, improper graft storage and handling, keeping the grafts out of the
body too long, packing the transplanted grafts too closely in the scalp, poor preoperative preparation, or inadequate post-op care. Literally every step of a
poorly executed transplant may serve to deplete one’s donor supply.
An interesting paradox occurs with the old punch-graft technique. When
the procedure is executed flawlessly, most of the donor hair is captured in each
punch and the growth of the grafts appears pluggy, inciting immediate complaints
on the part of the patient. When the procedure is performed poorly, there is
increased transection of the harvested follicles and inadequate growth in the
centers of the larger grafts, both contributing to a softer, more natural look.
Although in the latter situation, the patients are initially more satisfied, the poor
growth is evidence that there will be problems with hair supply down the line and,
ultimately, a worse cosmetic result.
Donor Scarring
Although the major effect of scarring in the donor area is to decrease the
amount of available hair, when scarring is severe, the scar itself may become a
cosmetic problem. The situations where this is most likely to occur are when the
scar is: placed too high (in the non-permanent zone), placed too low (near the
nape of the neck or over the ear), excessively wide in any location, or raised (a
hypertrophic scar or a keloid).
Limiting Factor in Repair Procedures
Many of the cosmetic defects created by poor techniques can be
completely reversed or “partially undone” by meticulously removing and reimplanting unsightly grafts. However, the main factor that often prevents the
surgeon from achieving all of the patient’s restorative goals is a limited donor
supply.
Hair wastage due to poor surgical techniques is usually the main cause of
this donor supply depletion. The early telltale signs of hair wastage may be a
transplant that appears too thin for the number of grafts used, poor growth
manifested as gaps at the hairline, or uneven density in areas where the
coverage should be uniform. The fact that donor hair was wasted might be
surmised from a longer donor incision than one would expect for a given number
of grafts, or abnormally low density in the donor area in the vicinity of the donor
scar. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to ascertain exactly what the underlying
causes had been after the fact and, by the time surgeon is aware that he has run
out of usable donor hair, the damage has already been done.
Because adequate donor supply is so critical to a successful repair,
accurately assessing the amount of hair available becomes paramount. When
performing a hair transplant on a virgin scalp, quantifying the donor supply is
rather straightforward, since the density and scalp laxity are relatively uniform in
the donor area. In repairs, however, additional factors come into play, so that
even though there might appear to be enough hair in the donor area, it might not
be available to the surgeon for use. Factors that limit the available donor hair
include:
•
•
•
•
Low donor density,
Fine hair caliber,
Poor scalp mobility, and
Scarring.
Low Donor Density
Donor hair density can be measured using a simple hand-held device
called a Densitometer. The average Caucasian has approximately 2.0
hairs/mm2, but this can vary from as little as 1.5 hairs/mm2 to greater than 3
hairs/mm2. In most individuals, the density of follicular units in one’s scalp
(follicular unit density) is relatively constant at 1 follicular unit/mm2. After hair
transplantation procedures, the average density in the donor area decreases.
Unfortunately, after poor hair transplant surgery, there isn’t a corresponding
increase in hair in the recipient areas of the scalp.
In modern strip harvesting, the resulting linear scar gives little indication of
the strip's actual size, as it only reflects the length of the excised strip and not its
width. Thus, the actual amount of tissue that had been removed cannot readily
be ascertained.
Using densitometry, this information can be measured by looking at the
increased spacing of follicular units. The percent of measured decrease in
follicular unit density will give an indication of how much tissue had been
removed and more important, how much is left to harvest. You cannot obtain this
information from measuring hair density alone if it had not been measured before
the surgery. Unfortunately, doctors who perform bad hair transplants rarely pay
attention to measuring hair density, and even less commonly record it in the
patient’s file. ine Hair Caliber
Although not affected by the transplant, hair shaft diameter is an extremely
important contributor to hair volume and thus the available hair supply. Hair shaft
diameter is mentioned less often than the actual number of hairs because it is
more difficult to measure, but its importance to both the virgin transplant and to a
repair cannot be overemphasized. Variations in hair shaft diameter have an
approximately 2.7 times greater impact on the appearance of fullness than the
absolute number of hairs.
The importance of this in a repair is that, for a given degree of plugginess,
fine hair will provide less camouflage than coarser hair. Fine hair, therefore,
must be transplanted in greater numbers, or in multiple sessions, to achieve the
same results. When this quantity of hair is not available, compromises must be
made in the repair. This important issue should be discussed with patients who
have fine hair prior to the repair, so that priorities can be established in advance.
Poor Scalp Mobility
Donor density and hair shaft diameter are not the only factors affecting the
available donor supply. In order for an adequate amount of hair to be harvested,
there needs to be sufficient scalp laxity (looseness) to close the wound after the
donor strip is removed. Especially when there is low donor density, having
adequate laxity is especially important because a widened scar may be visible
through the thin hair.
The location of the donor incision greatly affects scalp mobility. The ideal
position for the donor incision is in the mid-portion of the permanent zone. The
muscles of the neck insert into the deeper tissues of the scalp just below that
area. The problem is that an incision placed below this area will be affected by
the muscle movement directly beneath it. A stretched scar in this location is
extremely difficult to repair since re-excision, even with undermining and layered
closure, will tend to heal with an even wider scar.
The main risk of placing the scars too high is the lack of permanence of
the transplanted hair (it may be subject to androgenetic alopecia), and future
visibility of the scar if the donor fringe were to narrow further.
Scarring
Scarring in the donor area limits the amount of hair accessible to the
surgeon for a number of reasons. The most obvious reason is that a larger
donor strip must be removed to harvest the same amount of hair. The second,
mentioned above, is that scarring decreases scalp laxity by destroying elastic
tissue and often destroying the subcutaneous layer causing the scalp skin to be
bound down to the deeper tissues. The third is that scars themselves present
cosmetic problems when visible, so more donor hair must be left to cover a
scarred area than to cover normal scalp.
The presence of open donor scars, made by the old punch technique may
give a false sense of security. Because an excision with a primary closure was
not performed, the patient’s donor laxity has not been compromised. This
thinking may lure the unwary surgeon into harvesting a donor strip that is too
wide. When the surgeon attempts to close the donor wound, the tight closure
requires more tension on the sutures. The sutures, however, tend to tear the
scarred wound edges (that are significantly more fragile and inflexible than
normal scalp), increasing the scarring and hindering the repair.
Follicular Unit Transplantation: The Ideal Tool for Repair
Poor planning, bad judgment and sloppy techniques in hair transplantation
result in cosmetic defects and poor hair growth. Some of the problems with a
hair transplant, however, are intrinsic to the procedure and cannot be completely
avoided, regardless of how conscientious the doctor or impeccable the
technique. This is because even moderately sized grafts run the risk of scarring
and an uneven appearance.
To avoid these problems, NHI Physicians advise performing the entire hair
restoration procedure using exclusively follicular units. In repair procedures
where there is already scarring and hair wastage, using a procedure that
minimizes wounds, maximizes the utilization of donor hair, and looks totally
natural, is even more important. Follicular Unit Transplantation is the ideal tool
for the following four reasons:
•
The techniques used in FUT, namely single strip harvesting and
microscopic dissection, insure maximum utilization of the donor supply.
•
The small size of follicular units permits small wounds that limit
further damage to areas that have already been scarred.
•
The relatively greater hair content of follicular units, as compared to
mini-micrografts of the same size, allows them to provide greater camouflage.
•
Follicular unit grafts duplicate the way hair grows in nature and
therefore provide the most natural restoration.
Excising the donor tissue as a single strip is especially important in repair
work since the orientation of hair follicles in the donor scalp has been altered
from prior surgery. Because of this, a multi-bladed knife (the traditional
harvesting tool in mini-micrografting) can cause excessive follicular transection.
Once the strip is removed, microscopic dissection allows for the retrieval of donor
hair in, and around, the scar tissue produced by the old transplants, significantly
increasing the amount of usable hair. Traditional graft dissection, without the use
of a microscope, does not provide enough resolution to ensure that the follicles,
distorted by the surrounding scar tissue, are removed intact.
When follicular units are dissected from the donor strip, grafts are
generated that contain a greater proportion of hair in relation to skin than in the
surrounding tissue. This is unique in hair restoration surgery as both punch
grafts and mini-micrografts have essentially the same ratio of skin and hair as the
tissue from which they were derived. Since the follicular unit is a more compact
hair-bearing structure, it can fit into smaller recipient wounds (minimizing
additional insult to the donor area) and provide for greater coverage (or
camouflage of poor work). In addition, since follicular unit grafts mimic the way
hair grows in nature, it is logical to take advantage of them in hair restoration.
Repair Strategies
There are two basic repair strategies that are often used in conjunction
with one another: removal with re-implantation of the grafts and camouflage. In
the following sections, specific techniques will be grouped under these broad
strategies.
Camouflage is the primary means used to improve the cosmetic
appearance of a poorly executed transplant. In this situation, the existing grafts
are used to provide volume or bulk to the transplant. The camouflage, small
mini-micrografts or follicular units, is used to create a more natural appearance.
When possible, camouflage should be used as the sole restorative procedure
since excision and re-implantation require extra procedures and will postpone the
completion of the restoration. In addition, the process of removing grafts may
cause some damage to the hair follicles and produce additional scarring. Since
removal of large numbers of grafts may result in less total hair volume, they
should not be removed indiscriminately.
Camouflage should be preceded by excision and re-implantation when
camouflage alone is incapable of producing a satisfactory result. This usually
occurs when:
1.
2.
3.
The existing grafts are too large to be camouflaged.
There are grafts in an inappropriate location.
• The hairline is too low or too broad.
• The temples have been inappropriately transplanted.
• The crown has been transplanted in the face of an inadequate
donor supply.
The hair direction is wrong.
When grafts are too large, in a position where placing additional grafts in
front of them would bring the hairline down too low, when the hair that they
contain is pointing in the wrong direction, or when the grafts are simply in an area
that should not have been transplanted, their removal is mandatory. Camouflage
alone in these situations will likely exaggerate an already unacceptable
appearance.
If excision and re-implantation are indicated, they should be performed
before the camouflage is undertaken to achieve the best possible results. Once
additional grafts have been placed, removing the old ones becomes much more
problematic and additional hair wastage and scarring result. When in doubt, it is
best to err on the side of removing inappropriately placed grafts, rather that trying
to cover them up.
The traditional approach to improving the appearance of plugs is to
attempt to fill in the empty spaces between the grafts with additional large grafts.
The main problem with this method is that it takes an area of already high density
and makes it even greater. Since the resultant density is impossible to sustain,
the patient runs a serious risk of completely depleting his donor reserves. This,
in turn, forces the surgeon into leaving gaps in the area being fixed, and leaving
other cosmetically important areas uncovered. Another problem is that the use
of large grafts in the repair produces additional scarring (and decreased blood
supply in an area already markedly scarred). As a result, not only may the new
grafts exhibit poor growth, but they decrease the chance that future procedures
will be successful.
A preferred approach to improving the appearance of plugs is to reduce
the density of these larger grafts by excising a portion of them and then
redistributing the hair obtained from these grafts into an adjacent area (as
individual follicular units). This will decrease the density of the problem area and
permit additional areas to be transplanted with less density, since the potential
contrast will have been reduced. This, in turn will produce a more balanced look
and conserve donor hair.
Repair Techniques
Graft removal with re-implantation of the hair as individual follicular units,
and camouflage can be used for most restorative work. As discussed above,
these can be used alone or in conjunction with one another.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Removal and Re-implantation
Punch excision
Linear excision
Electrolysis
Laser Hair Removal
Camouflage
Concept of Camouflage
Establishing the Frontal Hairline
Transition Zones
Angling
Forward and Side Weighting
The Hockey Stick
Carpet Tacking
Punch Excision
Removing part of a large graft is a simple technique that can be used to
decrease the unnatural density of the old plugs. It is accomplished by punching
or “coring out,” part of the old graft and leaving a crescent shaped section of hair
behind. This method has a number of advantages: 1) it preserves some of the
hair in the original graft, 2) it enables the removed hair to be re-used, 3) it can
remove and improve the appearance of some of the scarred underlying skin and,
4) its results are immediate.
When the main cosmetic problem is that the plugs are too large or dense,
the goal may be to simply decrease their density rather than to remove them
completely. In this situation, the splay of follicles below the surface of the skin
will permit some hair to remain in the area even if all of the hair visible on the
surface appears to have been removed. As a general guide, we find that
approximately 25% of the hair in most punches will re-grow even if the punch fits
neatly over all of the emerging hair.
With grafts behind the hairline, one should only remove enough hair so
that they can be camouflaged in subsequent sessions. The decision regarding
how much of the grafts should actually be removed will depend upon both the
grafts themselves and also the patient’s donor reserves. With high donor
reserves and centrally placed grafts, little density reduction is usually required,
even if the grafts are large. However, in patients with depleted donor reserves
where significant camouflage is not possible, the visual impact of these grafts
often needs to be completely neutralized with excision and re-implantation.
Grafts at or near the frontal hairline almost always need to be reduced to
1-3 hairs to look natural after a camouflage. In spite of the relative ease of
removing only part of a graft, all of the hair in the graft should be completely
removed if: 1) the grafts are in an inappropriate location, i.e. too low on the
forehead or in the temples or crown, 2) when it is not appropriate to transplant in
affected areas, or 3) the hair has been transplanted pointing in the wrong
direction. When the grafts are to be removed entirely, it is extremely important to
tell the patient that this will most likely require more than one session, as some
re-growth of hair is the rule, rather than the exception.
Excised grafts are immediately placed under a stereomicroscope and
dissected into individual follicular units. In the these grafts into an adjacent area
(as individual follicular units). This will decrease the density of the problem area
and permit additional areas to be transplanted with less density, since the
potential contrast will have been reduced. This, in turn will produce a more
balanced look and conserve donor hair.
Repair Techniques
Graft removal with re-implantation of the hair as individual follicular units,
and camouflage can be used for most restorative work. As discussed above,
these can be used alone or in conjunction with one another.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Removal and Re-implantation
Punch excision
Linear excision
Electrolysis
Laser Hair Removal
Camouflage
Concept of Camouflage
Establishing the Frontal Hairline
Transition Zones
Angling
Forward and Side Weighting
The Hockey Stick
Carpet Tacking
Punch Excision
Removing part of a large graft is a simple technique that can be used to
decrease the unnatural density of the old plugs. It is accomplished by punching
or “coring out,” part of the old graft and leaving a crescent shaped section of hair
behind. This method has a number of advantages: 1) it preserves some of the
hair in the original graft, 2) it enables the removed hair to be re-used, 3) it can
remove and improve the appearance of some of the scarred underlying skin and,
4) its results are immediate.
When the main cosmetic problem is that the plugs are too large or dense,
the goal may be to simply decrease their density rather than to remove them
completely. In this situation, the splay of follicles below the surface of the skin
will permit some hair to remain in the area even if all of the hair visible on the
surface appears to have been removed. As a general guide, we find that
approximately 25% of the hair in most punches will re-grow even if the punch fits
neatly over all of the emerging hair.
With grafts behind the hairline, one should only remove enough hair so
that they can be camouflaged in subsequent sessions. The decision regarding
how much of the grafts should actually be removed will depend upon both the
grafts themselves and also the patient’s donor reserves. With high donor
reserves and centrally placed grafts, little density reduction is usually required,
even if the grafts are large. However, in patients with depleted donor reserves
where significant camouflage is not possible, the visual impact of these grafts
often needs to be completely neutralized with excision and re-implantation.
Grafts at or near the frontal hairline almost always need to be reduced to
1-3 hairs to look natural after a camouflage. In spite of the relative ease of
removing only part of a graft, all of the hair in the graft should be completely
removed if: 1) the grafts are in an inappropriate location, i.e. too low on the
forehead or in the temples or crown, 2) when it is not appropriate to transplant in
affected areas, or 3) the hair has been transplanted pointing in the wrong
direction. When the grafts are to be removed entirely, it is extremely important to
tell the patient that this will most likely require more than one session, as some
re-growth of hair is the rule, rather than the exception.
Excised grafts are immediately placed under a stereomicroscope and
dissected into individual follicular units. In the average repair case performed in
our office, one excised graft yields approximately 3-4 follicular units, although
usually not all of the units are intact because of the damage caused by the
original procedure(s). The new follicular unit grafts are placed in a region of hair
loss separate from the area of plug removal.
It is important not to plant the new grafts too closely together, since repair
surgeries are best spaced only two months apart, giving insufficient time for the
hair to grow to a visible length before the next procedure. By spreading out the
small number of follicular grafts harvested from plugs over a relatively large area,
it is unlikely that grafts of a subsequent session will interfere with those of the
first, even if placed in the same location.
It is usually difficult to remove multiple rows of closely spaced grafts in one
session as the closure of one wound may place tension on the next, especially if
the grafts are in adjacent rows. This is less of a problem when removing
adjacent grafts in a linear arrangement, since, in this situation, the closure of one
graft has little impact on an adjacent one, and may even make the subsequent
closure easier. When the removal of one graft interferes with the next, then
every other graft should be removed and the restoration should be carried out in
multiple sessions.
The majority of patients require 1-3 sessions of graft removal prior to the
actual camouflage procedure. There should be a two-month interval between
graft excisions and a two-month interval between the last excision and the actual
camouflage. The period between repairs allows hair in the grafts to grow so that
the visible stubble may direct the removal of residual hair in previously excised
grafts. The two-month period between the last excision and the camouflage
allows the sutured area to heal well enough that it will accept new follicular unit
grafts transplanted directly into the area of previous excisions without reopening.
As with follicular unit transplantation procedures in virgin scalps, camouflage
sessions should be spaced a minimum of 8-12 months apart. This allows for a
better distribution of grafts and permits both the doctor and patient to observe the
cosmetic impact of the prior procedure before planning the next.
Linear Excision
Graft removal via a long, elliptical (oval) excision is useful when grafts are
closely packed in a linear arrangement and when the goal is their complete
removal, or when it is mandatory that the patient have the removal phase of the
repair completed as quickly as possible.
It has been our experience that removing multiple grafts via one long
curvilinear excision does not always produce as good a cosmetic result as
removing them individually with punches. The reason is that the contraction of
the long incision over a curved scalp may cause a slight elevation of one edge of
the wound. This tendency may be compounded by the fact that the two edges of
the incision have to be angled slightly to match the angle of the hair in the grafts,
causing the one angled more acutely to rise up slightly over the other as the
wound heals. The multiple small holes created by the punch can often avoid
these problems, and heal more consistently with a barely detectable scar. This
use of punches must be balanced with the fact that they require more sessions
and are not as efficient in removing all of the abnormal grafts as a linear excision.
Electrolysis
When the underlying scalp is relatively normal in appearance and there is
not enough hair in the abnormal grafts for effective re-implantation, removal of
the hair alone may be indicated. This situation usually occurs when small micrografts are mistakenly transplanted either too low on the hairline or too far forward
in the temples. In this case the underlying skin may be normal and punch
excision of the grafts would not only be too aggressive, but the very small punch
used might miss a portion of the follicle, resulting in regrowth of the hair. In these
situations either electrolysis or laser hair removal would be appropriate to
consider.
The success of electrolysis depends upon the operator’s ability to insert a
fine needle directly into the growth center of the hair follicle. A major limitation to
electrolysis in repair is that, because of the scarring, the hair in the grafts tends to
be distorted, making accurate needle insertion exceedingly difficult. In addition,
the large number of thick coarse hairs makes the procedure slow and tedious
and further, electrolysis destroys the hair so that it can’t be used again.
However, electrolysis may be useful when there are a small number of hairs in
the wrong place, and the underlying skin is not significantly scarred.
Any time hair is removed the skin under it becomes more visible. If hair
removal is to be used alone, the skin under it must be relatively normal in
appearance. Larger grafts universally produce skin changes such as scarring,
depigmentation and cobblestoning, so that hair removal alone will not suffice. In
these situations, the abnormal skin can be partially removed through excision,
improved through procedures such as dermabrasion, or covered with normal
appearing follicular units.
Laser Hair Removal
Laser hair removal is a relatively new technology that offers promise for
repair work. As with electrolysis, the hair that is removed cannot be reused and,
as with electrolysis, the underlying exposed skin will be left in its previous state.
However, the laser has the significant advantage of being effective even when
the hair follicles are distorted, since it acts by being absorbed by the pigment in
the hair shaft and does not rely on perfectly intact follicular anatomy. Because
the laser light is selectively absorbed by melanin, it will work best on those
patients with dark hair and light skin, i.e. those who appear most pluggy. It is
for these reasons that the laser may be uniquely suited for certain types of repair
work.
At the time of this edition, laser hair removal is still classified as
“permanent hair reduction.” Although the individual treatments are fast, multiple
sessions are still required.
Concept of Camouflage
Camouflage is at the heart of almost all repair procedures. Rarely does
one attempt to return the patient to the pre-transplantation state by removing all
the problem grafts and rarely can excision and re-implantation alone solve the
patient's cosmetic problems. As discussed earlier, camouflage can be
performed, with or without prior excision and re-implantation, but if graft removal
by any means is planned, it should always be performed before the camouflage
is started.
There is a natural tendency, when confronted with a repair, to attempt to fill in the
gaps between plugs. However, the tendency to “fill in the spaces” between plugs
with more plugs, just creates a solid wall of hair and worsens the cosmetic
problem. A properly planned camouflage, should not only make the plugs less
visible, but also help to redistribute the hair density over a larger area.
Camouflage should not change the actual position of a hairline; that is the
job of excision and re-implantation. It is important to emphasize that camouflage
changes the hairline’s appearance, but not its location. This misconception often
makes the patient anxious to bypass the excision part of the procedure, hoping
that camouflage alone will solve their problems.
The concept of camouflage is perhaps best explained with the following
analogy: If one wants to hide a picket fence, boarding it up will only create a solid
wall and make it more obvious. It would be preferable to plant bushes and
shrubs on either side of it. The fence would still be in the same position, but not
be as visible.
Establishing the Frontal Hairline
Camouflage is an important repair tool for all parts of the scalp, but using it
to help establish a normal appearing hairline is the essence of the repair. It is
important to make the frontal hairline as “perfect” as possible, so that the
observer’s eye will be brought back to the central part of the face rather than
searching in other parts of the scalp for additional irregularities. Not only will
correcting the hairline improve the patient’s frontal presentation, it will allow the
hair mass that had been combed forward (to hide the unnatural hairline), to now
be available to cover other areas of the scalp. This freedom to redirect the hair
via styling is one of the most powerful aspects of a properly planned repair,
especially in the face of limited donor reserves.
At the frontal hairline, camouflage is accomplished by creating a “transition
zone” between the bald forehead and the abnormal grafts. For reasons
discussed in the section, Follicular Unit Transplantation: The Ideal Tool for
Repair, the transition zone is best constructed with follicular units, as they will
provide excellent camouflage with little additional wounding to the recipient skin
and, at the same time, ensure a natural result. Creating a transition zone in a
repair differs from creating a frontal hairline in a first-time hair transplant in that a
number of additional factors must be taken into account, particularly with regard
to depth and the specific arrangement of individual follicular units within the zone.
The hair transplant surgeon must have significant experience with repair work to
do this properly.
The depth needed for the transition zone will be greatly affected by the
degree of plugginess and the patient’s hair characteristics. For the same degree
of visual plugginess, a greater transition zone will be needed for patients with
finer hair or those with dark hair and light skin. Interestingly, coarse hair tends to
look the most pluggy, but coarse hair is also the best for the repair, giving
patients with the worst appearing transplants a reasonable degree of hope.
Occasionally, it may be useful to create a “widow’s peak,” as a means of
breaking up an extremely uniform hairline. This is most effective when the
patient had one naturally, but even in other patients, creating a subtle peak may
be an extremely effective tool for adding asymmetry to the hairline.
Angling
Ideally, all transplanted hair should point in the direction that it originally
grew. When using plugs was commonplace, improper angling was not only a
matter of poor judgment, but was a result of the technical difficulties of placing
the large grafts at very acute angles. The angled grafts had a tendency to heal
at a different elevation than the natural skin surface due to the contraction of the
surrounding connective tissue. As a result, larger grafts often grew more
perpendicular to the skin surface than natural hair. Unfortunately, even with the
use of smaller grafts, doctors still pay too little attention to the way hair grows in
nature.
The simplest approach to improperly angled grafts is removal. In situations
where removal is impractical (such as when there are large numbers of small,
poorly angled grafts), the doctor faces a dilemma. If one matches the angle of
the existing hair, the problem will be compounded, but if the new hair is placed in
the proper direction, it may not relate well to the old grafts, creating a v-shaped
separation. This problem is resolved by the subtle, but progressive angling of
implants away from the improperly placed grafts, so that the new follicular units
adjacent to the old grafts are almost parallel and the grafts furthest away point in
the normal direction.
Correct angling is especially important
when covering defects in the crown, either from scalp reduction scars or from old
grafts, since the crown is essentially a posterior hairline and the observer looks
directly into it. When there are no markings for the natural swirl, a new swirl
should be created off-center and angled sharply so that the hair fans out and lies
flat, covering the defect.
Weighting
“Weighting” is one of the most useful tools used to increase the cosmetic
impact of a Follicular Unit Transplant, and is an integral part of this procedure.
Weighting can be accomplished by either placing the recipient sites closer
together in selected regions of the scalp or by using larger follicular units in these
areas. In a virgin scalp, both of these techniques are used to “forward weight”
the transplant to enhance the patient’s frontal view. When using weighting to
create central density (such as with a forelock-type distribution), graft sorting
alone is the preferred technique, since this will minimize the wounding of the
central, less vascular parts of the scalp. Side-weighting is used to enhance a
specific styling pattern and is accomplished by using more closely spaced, larger
follicular units along the part side of the scalp. It requires a commitment on the
part of the patient to continue to use a specific hairstyle. Because of this, sideweighting is rarely considered in the first transplant when the styling preference is
not known.
In a repair, these techniques are even more important since the limited
donor reserves makes planning around a specific styling pattern critical to
achieving the best camouflage. Although the patient’s grooming preferences
should always be taken into consideration, when there is significant depletion of
the donor reserves (and many cosmetic problems) the patient may have few
options. The best way of performing the repair must be identified by the
physician and explained to the patient in advance. As a general rule, side-to-side
grooming with the hair combed diagonally back will give the best overall
coverage. This will enable layering to give fullness to the frontal hairline and
allow some of the hair mass to be combed backward to provide indirect coverage
to the crown. All things being equal, left-to-right grooming is preferable over
right-to-left, since the former is the styling preference of the majority of men and
will draw less attention to the transplant. Less commonly, when the major
cosmetic defects are in the crown, hair combed straight back will be the most
effective.
The Hockey Stick and Carpet Tacking
In situations where there is a great imbalance in the supply/demand ratio,
a more exaggerated form of “side-weighting” called the “hockey-stick” may be
useful. This might occur in patients with very low density, when open donor
harvesting has severely depleted the donor supply, when plugs are scattered in
different cosmetic areas (such as the temples and crown), or when scalp
reductions have rendered the patient’s donor supply unharvestable (by severely
reducing the donor density and/or laxity).
The “hockey stick” is accomplished by placing the majority of the implants
along the frontal hairline and along the part side with only lightly scattered
follicular units in other areas. This takes advantage of dedicated side-to-side
grooming that establishes a frame to the face and adds fullness to the front of the
scalp while utilizing a minimal amount of hair in less cosmetically important
areas.
The hair used in the more sparse areas are called “tacking hairs.” These
hairs serve to anchor the hair combed over it from the more densely transplanted
areas. Tacking hairs are composed of only 1- and 2-hair follicular units so as to
conserve the donor supply and to prevent these rather isolated grafts from
looking unnatural themselves. The use of “tacking” hairs helps to keep the
longer frontal hairs in place during routine activities, and in the wind.
Special Cosmetic Problems
•
•
•
Scalp Reductions
Severe Scarring and Ridging
Hair Loss from Face Lifts
Scalp Reductions
Fortunately, scalp reductions have been performed much less frequently
in recent years. Scalp reductions have the undesirable effect of simultaneously
causing cosmetic problems and depleting the donor supply needed to correct
them. Simply stated, they alter the balance between supply and demand. They
increase the demand for hair by producing scars on the top of the head and in
the crown that must be camouflaged, alter natural balding patterns, and change
hair direction all without significantly adding coverage to the front of the scalp.
They diminish supply by decreasing donor density and scalp laxity, thereby
minimizing the amount of “movable hair” available for the correction.
These problems can be partially addressed by the “hair conserving”
techniques of microscopic dissection. However, after multiple scalp reductions,
with even the best techniques, full correction is often not possible. Specific
patterns of repair, such as the “hockey stick” described above, used for treating
patients who have low donor supply, are especially useful to patients with low
donor supply as a result of scalp reductions and scalp lifts.
Another problem created by scalp reductions and scalp lifts is the scar in
the crown. This can be camouflaged, but it requires a considerable amount of
hair. In addition, the scar tissue limits the amount of hair that can be added in
one session, so that multiple sessions are often required. When hair is
transplanted directly into the scar, the patient may run the risk of having an
abnormal balding pattern as the hair loss progresses. The creation of an offcenter swirl, previously discussed, can be used to cover scalp reduction scars
without having to place a large amount of hair directly into the scars, and can
partially address future balding with its fanning hair pattern.
In general, correcting scalp reductions and their associated defects can be
approached in a way similar to the approach used for plugs and a depleted donor
supply. That is, to correct the front and one side as much as possible and allow
that hair to grow and camouflage problems in the back with either light coverage
or tacking hair. Problems specific to poorly executed scalp reductions that can’t
be camouflaged, such as “dog-ear" deformities, should be addressed prior to the
actual camouflage procedure. A “dog-ear” deformity (puckering of excess
tissues at the ends of the incision) is caused by the failure of the surgeon to
make the length of the incision sufficiently greater than the width or the failure to
adequately account for the curvature of the skull. It can be corrected by excision,
and the hair in the excised tissue can be dissected into follicular units and reimplanted.
Severe Scarring and Ridging
Ridging is caused by the body's reaction to the increased volume of tissue
associated with larger grafts. Ridging from grafts in the frontal hairline gives the
head an elongated rather than rounded frontal appearance that accentuates the
defects caused by the grafts themselves.
It is our experience that the growth of grafts in areas of ridging is poor.
The area can be improved cosmetically by punching out selected areas of plugs
where the ridging is most severe. This will decrease both the plugginess and the
tissue volume. It is important to perform a few trial punches to be certain that it
heals with less elevation. In some cases, even the trauma of removing the grafts
seems to contribute to the hyperfibrotic change. When hyperfibrotic change
occurs around slit grafts, especially large ones, deep depressions around the
grafts may be seen in conjunction with an exaggerated, tufted appearance of the
hair. When this situation is encountered, every attempt should be made to
completely remove the grafts.
Once the area of ridging has been improved, it seems to accept grafts
better in subsequent sessions, but the growth of newly transplanted hair may still
be inconsistent. For this reason, we always try to place follicular units in the
normal skin in front of the hyperfibrotic change (if the position of the hairline
permits) so that adequate camouflage can be ensured.
Hair Loss from Facelifts
Hair loss is a common complication of facelifts and brow-lifts, but is rarely
anticipated by the patients undergoing these procedures, or by the physicians
who perform them. Hair loss due to facelifts and brow-lifts can be due to the
following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Destruction of hair from incisions not parallel to the follicles;
Destruction of hair from suturing;
Destruction of follicles from undermining;
Alopecia from excessive skin tension;
Alopecia from disruption of the vasculature;
Stretched scars devoid of hair;
Distortion of the normal hairline from the lift;
Decreased density from stretching the scalp;
Telogen effluvium from the trauma of the surgery;
Telogen effluvium from the anesthesia; and
Acceleration of androgenetic alopecia.
It is tempting to perform the hair restoration procedure soon after the facelift. However, it is preferable to wait at lease one year so that the surgical scars
have had a chance to mature, the scalp laxity can return to normal and, most
important, that any hair loss from post-surgical effluvium has had time to re-grow.
A problem intrinsic to repairing alopecia from facelift procedures is that the
hair may be transplanted into the same spot where future facelift incisions will be
placed. If the hair loss from the facelift is not excessive and/or there is a
question about long-term donor supply, it may be wise to consider postponing the
repair until after the second face-lift. This is especially important in younger
patients where multiple facelifts would be anticipated. If future surgery is
anticipated, and if hair loss in the area surrounding the surgical incisions is the
main problem (rather than the scars themselves), one may place hair only in the
surrounding areas of thinning and not in the actual scar. Another way to
circumvent this problem is to avoid “aggressive” lifts or postpone aspects of the
procedure that are more likely to result in hair loss, such as a brow lift.
A second problem inherent in facelifts is that when the decision is made to
perform the procedure, the signs of androgenic alopecia may not yet be present
(or if present, not taken into adequate consideration). In a patient with no
apparent hair loss, potential androgenetic alopecia may be suspected from a
positive family history or the presence of miniaturization greater than 20% in the
front or top of the scalp.
When hair loss follows facelifts, the entire frontal hairline extending down
to the sideburn area often needs to be restored. In female patients, it is
important to maintain the rounded female hairline. The hair direction in women is
usually more varied than the predominately forward direction of the average male
hairline. The female hairline is often characterized by “licks” and “peaks” and
these should be restored to achieve the optimum results. Especially with brow
lifts, there may be broad areas of thinning both anterior and posterior to the
coronal incision. These regions should be filled with follicular units as closely
spaced as the physician can comfortably manage, since transplanted hair, when
compared with the more dense hair directly behind it, will generally appear too
thin. Once the first few millimeters of the hairline have been transplanted with
smaller units, the largest follicular units should be used to achieve the greatest
frontal density possible. In spite of this, it may still take several procedures to
achieve satisfactory density.
In contrast to men, many women have fine, vellus hairs at their frontal
hairline. Since donor hair is generally harvested from the mid-portion of the
permanent zone, the diameter of this hair may be too great for the frontal hairline
or temples. If the match is not right (a situation that is more often seen in women
with darker, coarse hair) finer hair should be used. Using the fine hair lower
down on the posterior scalp or behind the ears is not recommended for this
purpose. As will be explained in the next section, scars placed below the
occipital ridge will tend to stretch, and those behind the ear may interfere with
further facelifts. The preferred method of generating finer hair is to remove all or
part of a terminal hair’s bulb prior to implantation.
Donor Area Repair
Prior to undertaking a scar revision in the donor area, it is important to
take a careful history and find out specifically what, if anything went wrong with
the previous surgeries. It is presumptuous to think that just because a patient
has scarring, the next procedure will make it better. The first thing that the
surgeon should do is to carefully review the surgical history and, if possible,
speak with the original surgeon to see if there are any techniques that could be
improved upon or identifiable problems that could have been avoided.
The cause of an unacceptable scar may have been due to poor healing
intrinsic to the patient, such as the tendency to form keloids. It may have been
caused by a genetic or drug induced bleeding problem, or a medication that
interfered with healing. Scarring may have been due to a complication such as a
post-operative infection or simply from the patient not following post-op
instructions by performing strenuous exercise, or resuming smoking too soon
after the surgery.
A depleted donor supply is the major limitation to a successful repair. The
inability to harvest additional hair is caused by two main factors. The first is the
physical limit set by low donor density and poor scalp mobility. In the face of low
donor density, a larger strip must be harvested to obtain an adequate amount of
hair. A tight scalp, however, limits the size of the strip that can be removed.
After multiple procedures, the surgeon begins to reach a point of diminishing
returns, where trying to harvest additional hair is no longer worth the risk of a
possible widened scar. Every hair transplant procedure simultaneously
decreases donor density and scalp laxity, but poorly executed surgery does this
to a greater degree and decreases the supply without making proportionate
cosmetic improvements in the recipient scalp.
The second factor is the visibility of the donor scars themselves. Once the
donor scars are to the point of near visibility, the ability to harvest additional hair
is severely limited. An important point to keep in mind in judging how much
additional hair is available is that coverage of donor scarring is more closely
related to the amount of donor hair present, than to the degree of scarring.
Therefore, any process that removes hair, along with the scar, will run the risk of
making the donor scar more visible, not less. When scar and hair are both
removed, the closure will further stretch the scalp and decrease the density of the
remaining hair. This may prevent it from covering other scars that have not been
excised. It may also thin out the appearance of the donor fringe to an
unacceptable degree.
Excisional Repair
Excisional repair should be considered when scarring is localized and the
cosmetic benefit from its removal will be more than offset by the decreased
density of the surrounding hair. Because of the importance of the surrounding
area for camouflage, success in decreasing the size of an existing scar depends
as much upon the choice of the scar as upon the actual surgical technique used
to repair it.
There are a number of surgical techniques that have the tendency to
produce poor donor scars. An understanding of how these may contribute to
poor wound healing helps to explain the appropriate approach for their repair.
The more common problems include:
•
•
Deep donor incisions
Wide donor strips
•
•
•
•
Suturing with large bites
Non-contour incisions
Donor incisions placed too low
Donor incisions placed too high
Deep Donor Incisions
The fascia acts as a structural support to the healing wound. When this
support has been injured, the risk of having a widened scar is greatly increased.
The use of copious amounts of anesthetic fluid infiltrated directly into the
subcutaneous fat will elevate the scalp and increase the distance from the base
of the follicles to the fascia. This is probably the single best way to keep the
wound superficial. When the wound is superficial, then the donor strip may be
removed with the least amount of harm to the fascia.
When proper superficial harvesting of the donor strip is performed, and
there is no undue tension on the wound, a layered closure is rarely, if ever,
needed. There is no concern that the deeper sutures will impinge on follicles,
and there is no need to suture the fascia, as it is already intact. In contrast, with
a repair a meticulous layered closure is sometimes important because there is
often significant wound tension and the sutured scar tissue regains its wound
strength more slowly than normal hair-bearing scalp.
Wide Donor Strips
In the era of megasessions, the problem of taking too wide a donor strip is
an increasingly common problem. A wide strip places unnecessary tension on
the donor closure and leads to a widened scar. When larger sessions are
appropriate, and the scalp does not have high mobility, the surgeon should
consider a longer incision rather than a wider one.
If a wide initial incision is identified as the likely cause of a widened scar,
we suggest waiting at least 8 months so that the scar may mature and the scalp
laxity return. On re-excision, it is advisable to make the new strip at least 3-6mm
(or more) narrower than the previous one. When a tight closure is the cause of a
widened scar, one should generally not attempt to remove the entire width of the
old scar since this invariably leads to a reoccurrence, or worsening, of the old
scar. However, the new excision can extend into one hair-bearing edge. In other
situations, when adequate laxity is present, removing the entire scar width may
be beneficial. When two hair-bearing areas are placed next to each other, the
healing seems to be improved.
Suturing with Large Bites
When suturing with large bites, a significant amount of hair-bearing scalp
is incorporated within the sutures. Especially with a running stitch suture, any
post-op edema or tension in the donor area will tend to limit the blood supply of
the entrapped tissue and may result in permanent hair loss. In addition, if there
is any tension on the wound, the mechanical pressure of the sutures alone can
cause hair loss. In the repair, horizontal mattress sutures may be used to
reduce wound tension followed by the use of small bites very close to the wound
edge in the superficial closure.
Non-Contour Incisions
Incisions that do not follow the natural curved contour of the scalp tend to
heal with wider scars than those that follow the contour of the skull. When a reexcision is planned, it is important to have the new excision follow the natural
curvature of the skull, regardless of the linearity of the original excision and
regardless of whether the new excision completely encompasses the old one.
The focus should be on reducing the size of the original scar and changing its
direction, rather than eliminating it totally.
Donor Incisions Placed too Low
Of the various factors contributing to a widened donor scar, the most
problematic with respect to the repair is having placed the initial incision too low
on the posterior scalp. Some doctors feel that hair lower down on the scalp is a
good source of fine hair, but it has been our experience that this hair may not be
permanent and that this practice is associated with too great a risk of
unacceptable scarring. Incisions that lie too low on the back of the scalp will be
affected by the muscle movement directly below them and have a much greater
tendency to stretch.
It has been our experience that even the conservative re-excision of a
widened scar that is located in the inferior portion of the occipital scalp carries a
significant risk of healing with an even wider scar. Scars in this area should not
be re-excised and, if additional transplants are performed, hair should be
harvested from an incision made above it, leaving a thin zone of hair separating
the upper and lower incisions. Instead of attempting to remove the scar, its
appearance may be more consistently improved by the addition of small amounts
of hair to the area, with far less risk.
Donor Incisions Placed too High
When a donor incision has been placed too high, it is best left untreated
unless the scar is wide and poor surgical technique has been identified as the
cause. Often, the surgeon making the poor judgment in placing the wound too
high has done an equally poor job in the closure, so that there is a reasonable
chance the scar may be improved upon with better techniques. As with other
scars, however, one should generally attempt to lessen or improve the
configuration, rather than completely remove the scar.
The temptation to add hair into the scar should be resisted, since
progressive balding would isolate the hair-bearing scar and present new
cosmetic problems demanding additional hair. An exception to this would be
placing hair into the lower portion of a vertical scalp reduction scar that dips way
down into the permanent donor area.
Implantation of Hair
When a localized area of a donor scar is cosmetically bothersome, its
excision is impractical, and there is easily accessible donor hair in other areas, it
sometimes will benefit the patient to place hair directly into the widened donor
scar. Two-hair follicular units are the most useful for this purpose and should be
inserted at very acute angles. Only a small amount of hair is usually needed to
soften the appearance of a scar and dedicating too much hair for this purpose is
unnecessary and wasteful.
A Final Word on Repair
The physician attempting a repair faces a set of challenges quite different
from operating on a virgin scalp. The patient frequently has dramatic cosmetic
defects, a severely limited donor supply and, too often, hopelessness at the
prospect of looking normal again. In reparative surgery, the support of the
physician is essential, the judicious use of every graft is critical, and setting
priorities in the restorative process becomes as important as the surgical
technique itself.
Chapter 20
Choosing Your Doctor
Technically perfect results can fail to live up to the client’s expectations if
there was a failure of communication between the client and the physician.
Perfection in the art of hair restoration is a judgment call that can only be
determined by the satisfaction of the patient. It is crucial that the potential client
weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each medical group. In selecting
one's doctor, the most important decision factors should be tied to the surgeon’s
expertise and the value of the relationship between the physician and the patient.
A potential client should be wary of marketing techniques that are
common to the promotion of expensive services and products. Such sales aides
include fancy brochures, videos, and slick, high-pressure sales techniques.
Sometimes, video presentations are used to demonstrate a physician’s notoriety
on talk shows. Video imaging techniques often show an unrealistic presentation
of a potential outcome. These techniques are used to divert the attention of the
potential customer from the basic physician/patient relationship. Invest the time
to know your doctor, his standards, and his approach to your questions. The
amount of time the doctor is willing to spend with you should be an important
factor in your judgment of his or her true interest in your satisfaction. No matter
how eager you may be to get started, remember that a hair restoration procedure
is permanent. Do not rush your decision on selecting a physician; do your
homework carefully. A good decision today is a good decision tomorrow.
Male Pattern Baldness is a process that occurs in cycles over time. The
client has lost hair in the past and will lose additional hair in the future. The
assessment of a patient’s needs to restore his hairline or to cover a bald spot
must include a plan to cover his likely future needs. This requires a realistic
estimate of what those needs are likely to be. The doctor should inform his or
her patient of probable future hair loss and explain that while hair loss is
progressive, it is cyclical with alternating periods of slow and rapid hair loss.
Is Your Doctor Board Certified?
"Board Certified" means the doctor has had residency training and passed
an oral and written examination in a certain specialty. In general, doctors who
have received specialty surgical training perform surgical procedures more
competently than other doctors. Some physicians have developed considerable
expertise in hair restoration without having had specialty training in any field. It is
a good idea to discuss the experiences that they feel make them qualified to
work in this field.
General training in hair transplantation is found in dermatology residency
programs throughout the world (less often in plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery
training programs), but these programs often teach outdated, traditional hair
transplant techniques. Most hair transplant surgeons pick up their techniques
from books, articles, medical meetings on the subject, or from a modified
"apprenticeship" programs. To date, there are no watchdog committees, no
specialty certifications available, and essentially no way for a prospective patient
to verify the competence of his or her physician through a credentialing process.
Educational societies are forming and will eventually evolve into certification
organizations. The need for formal certification is critical to the proper growth of
this specialty. Currently, a prospective surgical candidate must rely on his or her
own diligence to confirm a physician’s claim of competence the hair transplant
field.
Experience
Ask the doctor how much experience he or she has had in performing hair
transplant surgery and why he or she feels qualified to do this type of work.
NHI trains and certifies all its affiliated physicians. They are schooled in
the principles and surgical techniques of hair transplantation, even if they have
prior hair transplantation experience. Before allowing new physicians to see
patients under NHI’s endorsement, the physicians are carefully observed. By
choosing a NHI physician, you gain the benefit of high standards and uniformity
of process.
NHI backs the quality and skills of its doctors. Their skills meet one
standard. Their judgments in hairline design and the quality of their work is
uniform. The doctors selected for affiliation with the New Hair Institute have
committed themselves to a high standard of care and have proven themselves
many times. Each affiliated doctor is re-certified yearly.
Type of Practice
Does the doctor specialize in hair transplant procedures? Hair
transplantation should be a major focus of the doctor’s practice.
Time
Does the doctor spend enough time with you during the consultation? It
takes time for a complete evaluation, discussion and to understand one's needs
and expectations. Evaluate the time spent with the doctor one on one in addition
to time spent with a knowledgeable member of the doctor’s staff.
Congeniality
You will probably have to visit the doctor more than once; it is easier if you
like the doctor and if you feel safe and secure with him or her. The relationship
can be difficult or impossible to establish if either one does not like the other.
Trust
Trust and honesty are crucial elements of the doctor/patient relationship. If
there is no trust, the relationship is unsound. A poor relationship can produce
results that are not satisfactory. Choose a doctor who you feel is honest and who
you can trust. Although this type of surgery is not a life or death affair, the whole
world will be able to see the results.
Speak With the Doctor and Examine His or Her Patients
The best way to choose a doctor is to speak with and, if possible, examine
one or more of the doctor’s patients. A physician with a successful practice can
usually ask some patients to share their results with prospective newcomers.
Most doctors have one or two patients who are so satisfied that they are willing to
speak with other prospective patients on a routine basis. If the doctor is willing to
offer this option, it will give prospective patients the opportunity to see the quality
of the work performed and it should add comfort to the doctor/patient
relationship.
When you meet a patient, examine his hair. If the patient will not let you
touch his hair, this should alert you to some abnormality he is conscious about or
covering up. If that should occur, confront the issue directly. Look at the skin at
scalp level. Is it pitted? Are there skin distortions that look like a cobblestoned
street? Does the hair sprout from the scalp like a fern? Would you be satisfied
with that appearance if your hair loss were equal to his? Ask about the technical
details of the procedure. Ask how much discomfort he had. Compare his situation
and appearance with your own.
Examine the area where the donor hair was taken, usually on the back
and/or sides of the head. Is it badly scarred? Is it noticeable? Is there more than
one scar? If the person had scalp reductions or flaps, ask how the hair looks
when not groomed. Does it cause a problem when he sweats, swims, plays
tennis, or jogs? Does he have scars that are difficult to hide?
Ask the patient whether he would go through the procedure again. Is he
satisfied? Were his expectations met? Does he have confidence in the doctor?
Why did he select that particular doctor? Did he participate in the decision
process? Did the doctor’s estimates of the work reflect the reality of the work?
Did the patient you interviewed (in person or by phone) seem believable?
One or two such interviews should give you all the information you need.
The best research for any product or service is accomplished by talking with a
knowledgeable customer. Do not set unrealistic demands upon the doctor by
asking him to arrange interviews with a patient who has your exact hair color,
hair characteristics, extent of hair loss, and the like. If you do this, you will never
find a doctor who will pass your test.
If the doctor fails to pay attention to your needs, you should be on the
alert. Is this doctor really the proper one for you? Tell your doctor about any
uneasiness you feel. Give the doctor a chance to answer your questions and
address your problems directly. Remember a good decision today is a good
decision tomorrow! Do not let anyone pressure you into making a decision you
may regret for the rest of your life! Be wary of doctor’s offices that call you
repeatedly to intimidate or rush you into going forward. Do not accept a doctor
who pushes you into a decision. Do not accept a physician substitute in what
must be a very personal doctor/patient relationship. Salesmen (or the like) are
paid to sell you on a purchase. This is a decision to undergo a surgical procedure
and pressure sales play no role with ethical practitioners.Skill of Each Team
Member
A happy, comfortable environment is critical to the efficiency and
productivity of each participant, but efficiency and productivity alone do not
produce quality work. It is in the preparation and placement of the grafts that the
success of the transplant is determined. NHI has seen many patients who have
had work performed elsewhere and the transplants never grew or did not yield
the full amount of viable hair follicles expected. One can count the number of
hairs in the larger grafts that survive, and by knowing or guessing their original
size; one can estimate the survival rate of the hair follicles. Death of hair follicles
may reflect improper handling procedures during the critical process of graft
preparation or poor technique when harvesting the grafts from the donor area.
Standards of Practice
Hair transplantation requires unusually high ethical standards. Generally,
all doctors subscribe to the principle "above all do no harm". They take this to
mean: do not inflict physical pain or harm upon a patient. However, doctors who
are familiar with the short view of a usual medical or surgical treatment may not
adjust well to the long-term view of a hair transplantation process. If a doctor
does something wrong in a typical surgery for example, problems are usually
quick to appear, so that the learning process is fast.
In hair transplantation, the results of the surgery may not be significant
until 8 months after a procedure, and full benefits may not be achieved for a year
or two. In traditional hair transplantation, (many surgeries spaced months apart),
the process may take years. For the large sessions of smaller grafts, the learning
cycle will be shorter, as the process is significantly contracted from beginning to
end.
It is too easy for a physician to conclude that hair transplant surgery is a
simple procedure that any trained, competent technician should be able to do.
This is far from the truth. There has been a high demand for hair transplant
services, but there are a limited number of reputable surgeons. These factors
produce high prices as well as many opportunities for second-class quality. Too
often, patients do not demand accountability from their doctors. This is apparent
in the way the industry goes about its business today. Many doctors employ
salesmen to protect themselves from patients and their expectations. Beware of
language devised to enhance the doctor’s influence. Doctors who claim to have
invented or originated a whatever-a-graft or a what-a-plasty generally mean that
they devised the name with the purpose of confusing, rather than educating, the
patient. The use of Latin sounding names (galia, mono, varia, etc.) may also
indicate such intentions.
NHI is not against using names that serve an educational or descriptive
purpose, but physicians who use such terms should define them and use them in
a context that enhances the communication process. Our use of “Fast Track”, for
example, was designed to enhance the understanding of the time commitment in
the hair transplantation process.
Beware of an unbalanced focus upon special glues, the use of dilators
(finishing nails which hold your graft holes open prior to graft insertion), or
bandaging techniques. In addition, some doctors actually make it a point to be
photographed with a political figure, a famous actor, etc., in order to imply
positive endorsement. True indications of value are teaching positions, research
in the field, or publication of books and articles. The publication of written
material in approved, peer-reviewed journals reflects contributions to the field of
hair restoration that have merit based upon content. Watch out for organizations
that confuse facts, present their services like used car dealerships, harass you
with persistent phone calls under the guise of following up on your initial contact,
and similar tactics. The patient who expresses an urgent need to get hair back at
any cost is the best test of the ethical standards of the hair restoration doctor.
The doctor should be responsible for setting proper expectations, communicating
fully about the process, and insulating the prospective patient from the
commercial selling process. The doctor should slow down the decision process if
the patient appears to be making an impetuous decision.
Balding is not sudden; it takes time to evolve. Restoring hair should be a
thoughtful process: it is not an emergency. Do not rush forward and make a
mistake by starting something you are not willing or able to complete. Do your
homework. Meet and view patients with results that you feel meet your standard
of quality. Plan your budget carefully. Get to know your doctor and be sure he is
a competent, caring and ethical.
The Aesthetic Aspect
The surgeon must understand the nuances in integrating the various
characteristics of hair, how it grows, its color and contrast to the skin, and the
ethnic attributes of the patient, to blend them in a natural-looking way. The
surgeon must also meet the objectives of the patient. This is not as easy as it
sounds. It requires spending time with each patient, to understand what the
patient wants to achieve. The surgeon should not dictate rules by which the
patient must abide; it is not the doctor who will live with the appearance created
by the surgery for the rest of his or her life. Too many surgeons dictate where the
hairline should be placed or where they place the hair they move, when the
patient's opinions should play a significant role in these decisions.
Most frequently, the hair restoration surgeon is not able to ascertain just
how to balance the long-term process of hair loss with the short-term goals of the
patient. The patient wants to believe that his short-term goal, when met, is
compatible with a normal long-term appearance. Selling short-term goals without
regard to the long-term outcome is irresponsible and one of the most common
problems with this industry. The potential conflict of interest of a less than
honorable doctor may precipitate too much surgery and too much expense to the
patient. It is all too easy to promise and deliver the patient’s short-term needs by
setting him up to look like a freak in the long-term as his hair loss progresses to
its natural inherited conclusion.
Take great care in analyzing the aesthetic capabilities of the surgeon you
choose, as hair transplantation is permanent. A hairline placed too low, will be
too low for the life of the patient and a low hairline cannot be moved higher.
Hair loss is a lifetime process and the hair transplant surgeon starts midprocess with an uncertain and unpredictable hair loss pattern. It is critical that
any additional hair transplants fit into a "master plan" considering a worst-case
scenario. After the surgeon finishes the restoration, the hair loss of the patient
does not miraculously stop. It continues through its natural course, one that may
be different from what anyone expected. The long-term nature of hair loss means
that the work performed must be intrinsically flexible in its design and capable of
appearing natural in the context of a worst-case hair loss pattern, if that should
develop.
It is important that each procedure stand on its own, as much as possible.
This means that, after having one procedure, the patient should be able to stop if
he wishes. If not, he should be informed of the consequences of further hair loss
as part of the informed consent process. Great care must be taken to understand
the incremental value of each procedure. Ask if one procedure will require more
procedures. In traditional transplants, stopping with less than the required
number of procedures will create a visibly obvious "half-done" job. Everyone will
be able to see a deformity appearing as a "toothbrush" hairline.
NHI has rarely seen a completed hair transplant patient with advanced
balding using the older transplant approach. Most people with traditional hair
transplants stop before they finish. They may just get fed up with the neverending process, they may run out of money, run out of hair, or they may just give
up on what seems to be an unattainable goal. This does not happen when the
Fast Track® is performed on an informed patient using Follicular Grafts.
Young Men: Attention!
All too often, a 25 year-old says: "I don’t care what I look like when I’m 50,
just give me hair now." This type of comment is a red flag indicating unrealistic
expectations and potential lack of foresight. Every 50-year-old man we've ever
met still cares what he looks like! Bad planning and poor design are the worst
enemies of the young candidate who will pay for any promise, real or imaginary,
for the return of the hair he can never really get back.
The Technical Aspect
The hair transplant surgeon must have high aesthetic standards and be
skilled in sophisticated surgical techniques. Transplantation of a large number of
grafts in a single session can be a long procedure for the patient and arduous
work for the medical team. A focus upon both the patient’s needs and the
surgical team’s experience is critical. Safety and comfort of the patient must be
central to the entire approach.
Hair restoration procedures have evolved significantly over the past
decade. Hundreds of thousands of patients have had various types of hair
restoration procedures performed with results ranging from near perfection to
dismal. Naiveté runs rampant in the medical community, even among the
physicians who specialize in hair transplants. Many hair transplant physicians
are afraid to follow up with their patients because of a fear of the patient’s results.
In addition, we have seen hair transplant specialists who have actually performed
the procedure on members of their own staffs or had the procedures performed
on themselves with substandard results. As a potential patient, if you make this
type of observation, you should reassess any proposed procedure. In this field,
what you see is what you get.
The Medical Group’s Style and Presentation
The field of hair transplantation is overrun with misinformation.
Unsubstantiated claims in the media often delude potential patients. Some large
medical groups run aggressive advertising campaigns that create an image of
unrealistic results using expensive, well-designed brochures to drive the
message home. Prospective clients are frequently delivered into the hands of
high-pressure salesmen working for such clinics. Claims that improperly
represent that a complete hair restoration is reasonable in men who have lost
75% of their hair (Norwood Class 7 patients) are all too frequent. The decision to
undergo such a procedure is too often made under pressure, and reality is often
glossed over by unscrupulous entrepreneurs or naive physicians who practice an
art form they do not really understand. For the hair transplant patients who had
their work before the introduction of the smaller graft, the actual number of
dissatisfied patients may be higher. With the introduction of the smaller graft and
a significant reduction of the pluggy look, the number of dissatisfied patients has
decreased substantially. In these smaller graft patients, the main cause of
dissatisfaction usually results from an inadequate amount of work, or the setting
of unrealistic expectations, not necessarily an abnormal appearing result.
Lack of adequate, informed consent runs rampant in this field. As a result,
a language has developed with a special jargon to describe the outcome with
metaphors such as “the toothbrush look,” “doll’s head look,” and the “pluggy
look.” These are all terms, used to describe the problems faced by many of the
patients who had extensive hair restoration procedures before the widespread
use of the smaller graft.
The damage of a poor hair transplant procedure goes far beyond what is
visible. Psychological damage can be extensive and social problems are all too
frequent. Some patients become reclusive; they live in restricted worlds, refusing
to go into public or do so only under controlled conditions. For a person sensitive
to his appearance, meeting new people or going to a social function can become
an ordeal. If social visibility is necessary in the person’s occupation, his career
can be destroyed. Personal relationships are often affected. Self-consciousness
and insecurity can lead to depression.
Many victims of substandard hair restoration surgical procedures find
solace in hairpieces and toupees; the very thing they tried to avoid in the first
place. The decision to acquire a toupee may be the only way to achieve some
degree of normalcy. Some victims go from doctor to doctor undergoing more
surgical procedures. Each new doctor is seen as another messiah, but the
chance of finding miracles diminishes as each new procedure is added.
Chapter 21
When to be Suspicious
Some dishonest doctors suggest that you try a few hair transplant grafts to
see if you like them. They may suggest that a few grafts do not commit you to a
complete course. This is not true. Like it or not, as you progress in your hair loss
process, a small number of grafts are likely to create a medical oddity at some
point in the future. The following is a list of rules to follow when looking for a hair
transplant physician:
•
Avoid doctors who use salesmen or non-medical people with no
experience or formal training.
•
Avoid doctors who use promotions or pressure you into making a
decision.
•
Avoid doctors who do not spend enough time to listen to your
needs and understand your goals.
•
Avoid doctors who quote you unrealistically low or high amounts of
work, time, or money.
•
Avoid doctors who tell you that their patients will not show off their
results.
•
Avoid doctors or salesman who tell you only good stories. Are they
trying to hide something? Do they have the rapport with their patients that they
claim? There are always down sides to any surgical procedure and these must
be part of the information relayed to you. Are your doctor and his staff honest
and forthright about the potential downside? Proper informed consent is required
by law.
•
Avoid doctors who specialize in minigrafts and recommend
performing monthly sessions. If subsequent transplants are performed before the
previously trans-planted hair grows, the previous grafts may not be identified and
could be damaged.
Until recently, anyone trying to find accurate information about hair
replacement has faced a confusing and difficult task. Much of the literature about
various hair restoration options aimed to sell you something. Deliberately
confusing advertising from wig salesmen, surgeons experimenting with new
techniques, and charlatans who scrub clogged pores to cure balding, were some
of the obstacles one had to deal with. There is often a fine line between
ignorance and incompetence in the hair restoration field, so the buyer of these
services must exercise careful judgment when reviewing the material.
Doctors or scientists usually announce advances in medicine to their
peers in medical or scientific journals. The public finds out about them later via
mass media. This has not always been the case with hair restoration advances,
as promotions by physicians often create false impressions of what is possible in
terms of treatment.
Sophisticated techniques for hair restoration that achieve truly naturallooking results have only become available relatively recently. Unfortunately,
many doctors practicing hair restoration are unaware of these advances.
Widespread ignorance prevails throughout the medical profession on the subject
of hair. Hair transplantation, as developed in the late 1950s, is still practiced with
the large-graft techniques that produce a pluggy or patchy look.
In any field, advertising is an important way to educate the public,
especially in the early phase of an industry’s growth. Hair restoration physicians
have used advertising for years. Because of the marketing in the late 1990’s of
Rogaine by Upjohn Company and Propecia by Merck, consumer awareness has
reached a new peak. Many people want their hair back, as sales figures for
Rogaine indicate. Good specialists in any field are hard to find, and
understanding what your real options are can be very confusing. In surgical
solutions, a mistake with the wrong hair restoration procedure or the wrong
doctor can be a mistake for life. The problem that confronts prospective buyers is
how to recognize a doctor’s ability, honesty, and his or her standards in a
specialized field where exaggerated claims abound.
Beware of slick brochures and claims that appear outstanding on the
surface. Mentally subtract the glitz, and see if the written material has merit
without the glossy pictures. Be dubious when literature displays beautiful women
inappropriately. Do some research and see if the claims are accurate. If a
brochure claims to condemn salesmen in the early presentation of the subject
material, see if the medical group practices what they preach. Do they use
salesmen as a primary advertising tactic? If the medical group invites you to
meet with a doctor, do you actually get to meet with a doctor? Is the service
personalized? Do patients have easy access to the physician after his fees are
paid?
Chapter 22
Common Fallacies in Hair Transplantation
The following sections address some fallacies commonly disseminated by
hair transplant surgeons still using the older techniques.
Fallacy #1
A large number of small grafts cannot get the needed blood supply to grow
properly.
Explanation:
Since the scalp has one of the richest blood supplies of any region of the
body, and its blood supply is anastomotic (comes from many directions and is all
interconnected), it can easily support large numbers of grafts, provided that the
wounds made in the recipient site are very small. The great advantage of
Follicular Unit Transplantation is that the grafts are small enough to fit into very
tiny recipient sites. Those who make these comments usually have little
experience with using small grafts and do not understand the anatomy of the
scalp’s blood flow and graft oxygenation. The main issue is one of oxygen
diffusion. Since oxygen must diffuse into the center of the newly transplanted
graft, very large grafts will be oxygen-deprived in their center. This has been
shown repeatedly by observing the phenomenon called doughnutting, the loss of
hair follicles in the center of larger grafts. This phenomenon is noted in larger
grafts, but does not occur in follicular unit grafts since the distance that oxygen
must travel to reach the center of the graft is so short.
Fallacy #2
Large grafts produce a better, denser transplant than smaller grafts.
Explanation:
The density of a given area is determined by the total amount of hair
transplanted, not by the size of the grafts. Larger grafts do not ultimately give
you more hair; rather, they produce an unnatural look. The highest quality hair
transplants require fine instruments and large numbers of delicate, small grafts.
These grafts must be distributed in a way that balances the patient’s individual
facial features and hair characteristics. Large grafts do not offer sufficient
flexibility to allow this "customizing," and they weight the transplanted area out of
proportion to the rest of the scalp.
Fallacy #3
Larger grafts can produce a denser hairline than smaller grafts
Explanation:
While this statement is literally true, it represents a misunderstanding of
the true aim of a hair transplant. The goal should not be to establish a dense,
abrupt hairline, but rather to create a natural-looking hairline. A very dense
hairline is not appropriate for most people as they age, just as a very flat hairline
is not appropriate. This is especially true for someone who has less hair due to
thinning or balding. It is up to the surgeon to balance density and naturalness
to give his patient the best possible appearance. A dense frontal hairline made
with larger grafts will never look as natural as a properly designed hairline using
fine delicate grafts. The density of the transplanted area should always be
appropriate for the long-term goals of the individual.
Fallacy #4
“Try a few grafts and see if hair transplantation is for you.”
Explanation:
This statement is one of the most disturbing comments made by a doctor.
The "try a few" mentality is, in our opinion, tantamount to medical malpractice, as
it does not fully inform the patient of the potential problems of starting a process
that he or she may not wish to complete.
Fallacy #5
With a young balding man, the doctor rubs the hair in the back and sides of his
head and announces: "You have plenty of hair for a transplant."
Explanation:
Each one of us is born with a different, but finite, quantity of hair. New hair
cannot be created. Scientific measurements (of hair density), such as
densitometry, provide the surgeon with much greater accuracy than subjective
assessments when estimating the total supply of permanent hair. The
importance of accurately estimating the total donor reserves for proper long-term
planning cannot be over emphasized. Beware of any doctor who says that you
are a great candidate for a transplant before he spends the time to carefully
examine you.
Fallacy #6
By cutting out some of the bald area in the back, scalp reductions save hair for
future loss in the front.
Explanation:
Such statements reflect an unacceptable lack of knowledge. Hair is a
limited resource that is depleted regardless of how it is moved. A scalp reduction
is not a magical process (as it is often portrayed). It moves hair to the front of the
scalp at the expense of the back. With a scalp reduction, the hair in the donor
area is thinned considerably, and the scalp’s laxity (looseness) is decreased as
the scalp is stretched to cover new area. This means that when the frontal hair is
lost, the surgeon may not be able to harvest the quantity of hair needed to meet
the patient’s needs, as the hair supply might run out before the completion of
surgery.
As most people want to frame their faces, the frontal restoration usually
takes precedence over the crown for hair redistribution purposes. If the crown is
treated first, the surgeon must be certain from the very start that the way the hair
is distributed leaves enough hair in reserve to cover the remainder of the balding
scalp. Scalp reductions, by addressing the crown first, significantly compromise
this principle. In addition, scalp reductions can cause problems such as scarring,
a thinned scalp, altered hair direction, and a host of other unwanted effects, that
become more and more difficult to deal with as the patient’s baldness
progresses.
Fallacy #7
Removing large amounts of donor hair is unsafe.
Explanation:
The judgment of an experienced surgeon will insure that the amount of
hair that is harvested from the donor area is safe and appropriate. If follicular
dissection is performed carefully using microscopes, the amount of hair needed
for the average large session is well within the safe limits of transplantation. The
amount of moveable donor hair reflects the size of the donor area, the scalp’s
looseness, the number of hairs per square inch, and the amount of scarring (if
any) from previous surgeries. These factors must be considered before the
surgical procedure, ideally during the patient’s initial evaluation.
Fallacy #8
With new laser technology, recipient sites can be made without injury to the
transplanted area.
Explanation:
Lasers were introduced to hair transplantation to produce slits that were
supposed to look better than punch holes, and to remove tissue to accommodate
large grafts. The exclusive use of follicular units eliminates the need for lasers
since the small grafts fit into very tiny micro-slits that can be created without
removing tissue. Regardless of how precise the laser beam, or how small the
zone of thermal burn around the wound that the laser produces, the laser still
makes a hole or slit by destroying and removing tissue. This is essentially the
same type of wound produced by the cold steel punches of the early days of hair
transplantation. Lasers will always produce more injury to the recipient area than
a micro-slit that does not remove tissue.
Chapter 23
A Final Note
In this book, we have presented a detailed overview of hair loss and its
treatment. We have tried to offer a clear explanation of the various options
available to men and women who are experiencing hair loss. The most common
and rational options concerning medications, surgery, and hair systems have
been discussed. Only by becoming an informed consumer can you make the
right decision for yourself. The following points are important to remember:
• Hair loss starts at varying ages. Some individuals become bald by their
20’s, or balding can slowly progress
throughout adult life. Although you may
sense that you are losing hair by simple observation, your physician can make a
specific diagnosis of hair loss.
• There are many options for hair replacement today, from medications to
hairpieces to surgical procedures. Be sure that you understand both the
advantages and the risks before you begin any course of treatment.
• The FDA approved medications, finasteride and minoxidil, can significantly
delay the progression of hairloss and reverse early thinning. There are many
more unproven remedies on the market. A knowledgeable doctor is the best
source of information about these options.
• Make sure that when you go to see a physician for your hair loss problems
you see the actual doctor. Do
not settle for a salesman in a white coat.
• Be certain your doctor understands your goals, needs, and expectations.
Be certain that he or she performs only state-of-the-art surgical techniques or can
refer you to a physician who does.
• Once popular procedures, such as scalp reduction and flaps, have an
unacceptable rate of problems and are no longer used by most hair restoration
surgeons. Some newly “hyped” procedures such as laser hair transplantation,
may also cause more harm than good, and are not recommended by most
physicians.
• Commonly practiced techniques, such as mini-micrografting, although
relatively quick and easy to perform, rely on a multi-bladed knife to remove the
donor tissue and can cause excessive hair wastage and less than natural results.
• Only techniques using single strip harvesting and stereo-microscopic
dissection can insure that the donor supply is used efficiently and without waste,
and only Follicular Unit Transplantation can insure natural results.
• The physicians of the New Hair Institute first published an article
discussing Follicular Unit Transplantation in 1995. This procedure has now
become the “gold standard” of surgical hair restoration. To be performed
properly, Follicular Unit
requires a surgeon who understands both the artistic and technical complexities
of transplanting large numbers of very small grafts, a surgical team specifically
trained in the stereo-microscopic dissection of follicular units, and facilities that
are specifically equipped to perform this labor intensive, exacting procedure.
• Hair transplantation is moderately expensive but, in the long run, can be
far less costly than other treatments. Transplanted hair behaves like the original
hair. It grows and must be cut and styled like normal hair. If transplantation is
performed properly, your transplanted hair can look perfectly normal and last a
lifetime.
We hope that the information provided in this text has been helpful and we
wish you luck in your search for a hair loss solution that will be right for you.